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When I first heard that London-based John Lewis boss Andy Street had been chosen as the chairman of the Greater Birmingham LEP I was less than impressed.

Not only is he based 100 miles south of here, but given that local enterprise partnerships are supposed to be, at least partly, about job retention and creation and that this is still an area dominated by manufacturing businesses I didn’t see that a retailer was the best choice. Coventry and Warwickshire and the Black Country have both gone for local business owners to head up their LEPs and this seemed to me a smarter choice.

My opinion hasn’t completely changed but I’m all for giving people a chance. Also, after taking soundings over the last few days, there may be something in the argument that Street is a bold choice, an alternative to one of the ‘usual suspects’ who habitually get chosen for these roles. And there is a school of thought that thinks his one foot in London/one foot in the Midlands status may benefit the region.

We shall see.

Certainly Street is making the right noises. “As a Midlander myself, I am personally excited by the prospect of using the skills I have developed as managing director of John Lewis for the benefit of the citizens of the region,” he says.

And there is no denying that John Lewis is a business to be admired. Its employee ownership model ensures staff buy in and it seems to be offering something distinct in an increasingly homogenous retail market.

But one thing is for sure, when Street takes on the LEP role at the beginning of May he won’t find an empty in tray on his desk.

The problems facing this area - in terms of unemployment, skill shortages and low productivity levels, for example - are so huge that it is sometimes hard to be too enthusiastic about good news when it does come along.

And this week there was some genuinely good news around.

Unemployment in the region has fallen by 4,000. It may not sound a lot but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

The unemployment rate in the region is now 9.7 per cent, still among the highest in the country and well above the national average of 7.8 per cent, and Birmingham now has a youth unemployment rate of 20.8 per cent, but a fall is a fall.

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said the drop in the jobless figure is consistent with the findings of its recent Quarterly Economic Survey (QES), which saw an increase in the numbers of both manufacturers and service sector businesses expanding their workforce.

The QES found that 27 per cent of service firms and 24 of manufacturers were looking to increase their workforce in the next three months.

More good news came with the announcement of successful Regional Growth Fund bids. Bids by private sector companies such as Alstom and Jaguar Land Rover were given the green light and so was a £15.7m Birmingham Chamber/Birmingham City Council bid for improvements to the A45 near Birmingham airport, which should allow the airport to develop its runway.

Up to 10,000 jobs could be created as a result of these successful bids, it has been suggested. That has the feel of a figure plucked out of the air but most of us would be happy with the more vague ‘thousands of jobs.’

So good news then and something for Street to build on. Helping to attract investment and trying to deal with some of the aforementioned problems will be amongst his priorities. We wish him luck.

Comments? Andy Coyne, Insider