As the clock struck midnight and ushered in 2022, who could have predicted we would finish the year with a new Prime Minister and a new monarch?
What started with yet another covid-19 lockdown, albeit a mercifully brief one, ended as one of the most seismic and memorable in British history, with Birmingham and the West Midlands playing their part by hosting a hugely successful Commonwealth Games in the summer.
Here, Midlands business editor Tamlyn Jones rounds up some of the key headlines from across the region in our four-part Review of the Year, kicking off with the first quarter of 2022.
