Business leaders, councillors and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker were in the audience to hear Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield outline £1bn spending plans for the region.

And the stakeholder event also saw Liv officially launch the Midlands Employer Alliance, a new and inclusive business consortium which aims to get the young, unemployed and ‘forgotten’ into work.

A packed audience at Birmingham Council House heard the water company boss describe the plans as “delivering real, tangible benefits for our customers and communities.”

Investment proposals include spending £350m in the West Midlands on storm overflow projects to reduce spills and boost river health.

The event took place days after the Mayor announced his own plans to help create 3,000 new job opportunities in the region, including 500 at Severn Trent.

The mayor said: “I am working closely businesses in the region, such as Severn Trent Water, to create more jobs, work experience and training opportunities and I'm pleased that Severn Trent is committed to delivering 500 new opportunities. Boosting skills and training will help build and grow the region's businesses allowing them to succeed and thrive.”

Nick Barton, Birmingham Airport chief executive, said he had also been impressed by what he had heard, particularly the Midlands Employer Alliance which his company is now part of.

He said: “We are always thrilled to see investment reaching those that live in our local communities, especially young people that will be the future of our region. Anything that gives people a step-up and helps develop careers in the local area, is critical to growth in the West Midlands and the Alliance’s work is very valuable in this area.”

Abigail Vlahakis, chief executive of Millennium Point, said: “It was great to hear about Severn Trent’s work for the community. Supporting young people is at the heart of everything we do at Millennium Point and it is fantastic to see other employers, like Severn Trent investing in the next generation of innovators.”

Co-founder of Lunar Agency & radio presenter Ed James said: “To hear the passion from Liz about the region, about the future and about young people was really inspiring.

“There’s lot of doom and gloom around at moment and bad news. So to come to an event like this with one of largest employees in the region to talk about the future and about how exciting things are, was awesome.

“The initiatives Severn Trent has announced are vital, it’s about skills, it’s about jobs and it’s about making sure people are not in poverty - and that’s how our region will grow.”

The Midlands Employer Alliance includes some of the biggest companies in the region, including the NEC Group, Birmingham Airport, Cadent, Wincanton, Pertemps, Kier, Greene King, Culina and Unipart.

Together they hope to help thousands more people into work by boosting job skills and creating career opportunities by sharing knowledge and ideas and using targeted recruitment of people from marginalised groups, or those facing barriers to work.