Joining City-REDI continues my professional passion – research; making sure it has impact, and makes a difference to lives – producing better outcomes for people. One of my personal goals has always been to help establish a new research institute and bring the policy maker and academic closer. City-REDI is the new kid on the block for this, aiming to help city regions and places, develop practical solutions, informing and influencing regional and national economic policy, through strong evidence. But we want to tackle this differently, a new approach driven by a desire to understand and have an impact on, the complex ways in which our economy works. We have a starting point of treating the economy as a complex organism, where everything is interrelated, productivity, well-being, environment; and exploring those relationships to understanding how we can grow an economy through its people, but not at their expense. We seek to create a new practical model to aid policy and programme development. Our first contract as academic partner to KPMG, delivering an enhanced impact model for the West Midlands Combined Authority starts this thinking. Where we are exploring the challenge of understanding the impact of skills and business support programmes on the economy.