Its official! Birmingham has won a series of accolades from UK businesses; voted the best city for business outside of London, the top UK city to locate a new office and the city with the highest level of awareness as a business location outside of London in the 2006 UK Cities
Report by Cushman & Wakefield.
Cushman & Wakefield is the world's largest privately held real estate services firm. They have
undertaken a survey on Europe’s major business cities each year since 1990. European Cities Monitor examines the issues companies regard as important in deciding where to locate and compare how cities perform on each issue. This year a new UK Cities Report has been undertaken, with senior executives from more than 200 companies across the UK surveyed independently by Taylor Nelson Sofres on the factors and key decisions on relocating offices.
Marketing Birmingham Chairman Ian Squires welcomed Birmingham's entry in the Cushman
and Wakefield UK Cities Report. He said: "Whilst league tables come and go this is certainly
one worth noting and is excellent news. Birmingham was the only other UK city apart from
London to be named in the top twenty European cities for business and with a 78%
recognition as a business location (the second highest score after London) we know that the
rest of the UK recognise what Birmingham can offer investors.
“This is Birmingham’s first year of entry into the report and we’ve gone straight into the
premier league as one of Europe’s leading destinations – a fantastic achievement.”
Ends
For further information and images of Birmingham, please contact Trudi Dunlop, PR manager,
Marketing Birmingham on 0121 202 5001 or email us.
Notes to editors
- Marketing Birmingham is the destination marketing agency for the Birmingham City
region. It is a public–private partnership supported financially by Birmingham City
Council and some 400 member companies. It raises additional commercial revenue
through the provision of a hotel accommodation and conference booking service.
Birmingham Factfile
- Birmingham is the regional capital of the West Midlands, which has a population of
5.3 million, a large, flexible and motivated workforce of nearly 2.5 million, and a
client base of 182,000 companies.
- As a region, the Gross Value Added is over £77 billion, while the GVA for Birmingham
is over £16 billion.
- The three city universities have a graduate population of over 40,000, with 40% of
University of Birmingham graduates choosing to stay in the city to progress their
careers.
- Birmingham City Council estimates that there is in excess of £11.4 billion worth of
investment planned over the next 10 years, with over £9.2 billion worth of
investment planned or underway in the city centre alone.
- In 2001 the first all-purpose law school to be built in the UK for 20 years opened in
Birmingham. The College of Law in Birmingham represents a £7 million investment as
the nationwide provider of legal training. It has welcomed nearly 1,000 students
each academic year.
- With 1,000 shops within a 20 minute walk Birmingham has an extensive retail offer.
- Europe's largest city centre retail regeneration scheme, the Bullring, opened on 4th
September 2003 at a cost of £800 million and has already seen 100 million shoppers
pass through its doors.
- A national centre of nanotechnology expertise, providing prototypes and research for
businesses, will open in January 2007 on the University of Birmingham campus.
- A £6 billion 180-hectare development of Eastside, the extended boundary for the city
centre, will create a new science and learning zone which is already home to Aston
Business School, Mathew Boulton College and UCE’s Technology Information Centre.
- At the heart of UK’s communications network, the city benefits from good transport
facilities. Birmingham International Airport has the highest proportion of business
traffic second only to London Heathrow, handling an average nine million passengers
a year travelling to more than 100 destinations by more than 50 airlines.
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