More Information
Birmingham, a thriving international city, is at the centre of the United Kingdom's communications network, offering a business client base that is second to none and a large and skilled workforce to supply your company needs. Click here to view Birmingham's business by industry.
With over 31,000 companies from motor cars to manufacturing, electronics to computing, the latest breakthroughs in technology, and the fast-growing business, financial and professional services community, all means that Birmingham is home to such globally renowned companies such as:
- MG Rover - Jaguar Ltd - LDV Ltd - GKN Hardy Spicer - TRW - Cadbury Trebor Bassett - Delcam - iSOFT - Indigo Photonics - F W Pharma Systems Ltd - Primecare - Goodyear Dunlop - PricewaterhouseCoopers - Eversheds - Wragge & Co - Deloitte & Touche - Hammonds
Business & Professional Services Sector
Birmingham's professional and financial services sector (second only to London) is the fastest growing sector in the City's and region's economy. Click here to view Birmingham's location in the heart of the UK.
Birmingham's economy has experienced buoyant growth over the past five years to become the UK's leading financial and professional services centre outside London. In Birmingham alone the sector currently employs over 100,000 people,* and is projected to increase by over 20,000 jobs in the next 10 years.**
Birmingham City Centre is the region's major cluster with around 600 firms and a driver of sector activity throughout the region, with an average output growth of 3.9%.** The City has 200 law firms, boasts a wealth of highly talented banking specialists, many top accountants, 50 major property services and Europe's second largest insurance market.
Birmingham's professional service suppliers are outward looking and the depth and quality of expertise is the foundation for a growth in corporate deal making. The competitive strengths of the sector are complemented by the city's accessibility, the diversity and international outlook of the city's workforce and the growing appeal of Birmingham's quality of life as a place to live, work and study. Locate in Birmingham work closely with Birmingham Forward, Advantage West Midlands and many other private and public sector agencies to make Birmingham the preferred choice for professional services.
Transport Technologies Sector
In the highly competitive international market place, Birmingham companies are continuing to meet the needs of their customers while facing the challenges of global competition.
Birmingham has an established support structure base for companies in the aerospace, rail, and automotive industry.
The Midlands is one of the four main clusters of aerospace and aviation companies in the country and the sector in Birmingham is a buoyant one. TRW Aeronautical Systems is set to provide the weapons bay door drive system for the Lockheed Joint Strike Fighter, and Hydrapower Dynamics has seen its annual turnover rise significantly.
The Birmingham region's automotive industry is thriving and can look forward to more prosperity.
Concentration of prime automotive manufacturers in the region is well established. Eighteen of the top suppliers have a presence in the West Midlands, including such names as Dana, Goodyear Dunlop, Magnetti Marelli and NSK. Altogether the region boasts some 590 businesses in the automotive sector.
Life Sciences Sector
Birmingham is keen to develop its thriving cluster of companies in the bio and health informatics sector. Both the city and the region are home to world class research facilities, which are at the heart of the UK biotech market. The region already includes a significant number of the 550 biotech companies that exist within the country. The region already boasts: nine universities, many with five star ratings for research; eight Science & Research Parks; world renowned centres of excellence; and a significantly lower cost of living but substantially higher quality of life & Birmingham is the ideal location for your business.
Smart science is also playing its part in catapulting Birmingham's 21st century economy into a new lucrative high-tech world with the city's growing reputation for Nanotechnology and Photonics.
The regional population is over five million, with a workforce of 2.6 million, comprising of 41,000 graduates in 2002. Birmingham is a city that provides your business with a large base of well-trained and well-educated people, which makes it an excellent destination for technology companies of all sizes.
Locate within multi-million pound, state-of-the-art premises from fully integrated headquarter facilities to high-spec incubation units at Aston Science Park and Birmingham Research Park. Sites also available on the A38 technology corridor and bespoke greenfield locations.
Communications
Birmingham is at the heart of the UK communications network with excellent domestic, European and International transport links.
Air Birmingham International Airport is one of the UK's fastest growing airports, handling nearly eight million passengers in 2002.
Birmingham International Airport has been voted best UK Business Airport four times in the past six years.
At the Business Travel World Magazine awards, Birmingham International Airport has been voted Best UK Business Terminus in 2003 - the fifth time in nine years.
The airport is the second largest UK airport outside London. the third largest for charter traffic, and the UK's fifth largest overall.
Second to London Heathrow Airport, Birmingham International Airport has the largest proportion of business travelers than any other UK airport.
In May 2003, Birmingham International Airport was rated 20th for overall passenger convenience in the leading survey of the world's best airports. The airport was the only one in the UK to be listed in the analysis of passenger satisfaction at 51 major airports world-wide by the International Air Transport Association.
The airport's £260 million expansion programme is underway, which will provide facilities to handle a projected 10 million passengers by 2005.
Work on the £7 million Multi-Modal Interchange at Birmingham International Station has been completed, and incorporates the new £11 million SkyRail "people mover", the first of its kind to be installed in Europe, opened in March 2003.
There has been a strong growth of direct scheduled services, now totalling 60 destinations worldwide, including direct daily services to over 40 destinations such as Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Zurich, and Frankfurt. New services announced for summer 2003 are direct scheduled services to Chicago, New York (JFK), and Pisa. Many European destinations are enjoying increased frequencies in services, including Turin and Venice. There has also been notable increase in traffic to Asia and Australia as result of the increased availability of services to Dubai and Ashkhabad.
Road Birmingham is at the heart of the motorway network with links to the M5, M6 and M42, which connect to the M1, M40 and M69. The A38(M) Aston Expressway provides motorway access direct to the edge of the city centre.
Construction of the M6 Toll, Britain's first toll motorway, is well underway and on course for completion in January 2004.
Birmingham City centre has a nationwide hub for National Express Coaches, with the new £6 million coach station development, due to be completed in 2006.
Birmingham city centre an extensive bus service that operates 24-hour services throughout the city.
There are over 21,000 car parking spaces available across the city centre.
Freight Birmingham International Airport provides direct scheduled services to 60 destinations worldwide, along with a dedicated airfreight terminal. Hams Hall, the National Distribution Park with on-site European Rail Feight Terminal, directly linked to the Channedl Tunnel, is located 12 miles (19 km) from Birmingham City Centre. The city's three mainline rail stations provide extensive links across the UK and access to London within a journey time of approximately 90 minutes.
Rail Birmingham has three mainline stations: New Street, Snow Hill and Birmingham International - only 92 minutes from London.
Birmingham New Street station has more direct connections than any other station in the UK and is the busiest station in Europe, dealing with 1,250 passenger trains per day. The station serves over 77,000 passengers daily, equivalent to more than 28 million each year.
Midland Metro Line 1 of the Midlands Metro light rail transport system, a £45 million light rail system from Wolverhampton to Snow Hill station in the city centre, opened in May 1999.
A two mile extension is planned from Snow Hill through Birmingham City Centre, along Broad Street to Edgbaston shopping centre. Work on the extension is expected to start in 2005, for completion in 2008.
Telecommunications
Birmingham is one of the major telecommunications centres in the country, having immediate access to the most advanced telecommunication networks in Europe.
The success of the city as a location for call centre and e-business operations is due in part to the extent and range of telecommunication services available to companies in Birmingham.
Digital Network The network is entirely digital and all new companies setting up in Birmingham are automatically connected to this latest technology. The whole of the city now offers 100% digital coverage. Key network services such as ISDN2, ISDN30, Broadband access, SDH and ATM Technology are widely available, offering companies a complete package of state-of-the-art telecommunications applications.
Birmingham offers excellent access to high-bandwidth fibre optic routes. Resilience can be obtained using Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) self healing technology and by dual parenting, providing access to two of the many local exchanges available in the area.
The city is also at the forefront of BT's roll out of ADSL technology. This will provide high speed 'always on' connections to the internet. E-business applications are widely supported with a broad range of products and solutions available from numerous suppliers. These cover areas such as web enabled supply chain solutions, secure trading environments, and Managed Business Services such as shared service centres and e-markets, creating 'open' electronic trading communities.
Who's here BT - has brought broadband capability to more than 95% of Birmingham homes and businesses - a significantly higher penetration than the UK average of around 66%.
COLT Telecommunications - a leading European provider of business communication services.
Telewest - currently provides voice and data telecommunications services to around 72,700 business customers nationwide.
Labour Market
The city and region benefit from a large pool of highly skilled workers, for example, the proportion of employed residents with degree level (NVQ 4+ qualifications) has surpassed the UK average.
There are nine universities within one hour's drive of Birmingham, enrolling over 150,000 students and producing over 40,000 graduates each year.
Key Facts Birmingham's labour force is almost 600,000, while the West Midlands regional labour force is 2.6 million.
Birmingham is a city with an emphasis on youth - 37% of its population being aged 24 and under, compared with 31% for the United Kingdom. Source: Census 2001
Drive time catchments for Birmingham:
- 25 minute catchment area 570,200 economically active people - 40 minute catchment area 803,350 economically active people
Employment
Birmingham and the West Midlands' region boast a skilled and dedicated workforce of nearly 600,000 and more than 2.6 million people respectively. They have consistently demonstrated their versatility, flexibilty, and competitive instinct over many years.
The skills provided by the workforce meet the needs of modern business across a wide range of secctors. The well-established automotive sector ranges from major manufacturing plants to a full range of component, systems, design and support companies. Precision engineering is another key strength in the region, with a large skills base.
The service sector is equally impressive - and continues to grow very rapidly - with the UK's strongest financial services sector outside London, and extensive business support services. Telecommunications, software, electronics and information technology sectors are all experiencing growth.
Economic Profile
Birmingham is the powerhouse of the United Kingdom's manufacturing sector. Traditional industries such as automotive and engineering remain a crucial part of the region's success. But now, through highly effective diversification, the New Birmingham is a major centre for telecommunications, information technology, and the development of knowledge-based industries.
Output - As a region, the 2002 Gross Value Added is over £61.5 billion, while the GVA for Birmingham is £11.8 billion. Source: LEFM, BEIC 2003
- It is forecast that between 2002 and 2012 economic growth in Birmingham will accelerate to 2.1% per annum. Source EIC October 2002
- In total 57% of Birmingham's employment in 2002 is in sectors where jobs are forecast to increase by 2012, with a forecast of 27,000 jobs created over the next 10 years.
A number of sectors are forecast to have high growth in Birmingham:
- Construction - forecast to rise above the national average - Communications and computing services - Banking and Finance and Professional Services are forecast to be relatively high. Source: BEIC Economic Review 2002
The best combination of output and employment growth is forecast for a group of high value service sectors: Professional Services; Computing Services; and Health & Social Services.
Creative Industries
The city is recognised as the second largest media centre in the country, employing over 17, 000 people and supporting in excess of 1,000 businesses.
Birmingham is home to a thriving community, which embraces all aspects of the creative industries from new media, software design, designers, publishers, performers, music, photography, artists, PR, and marketing firms. As well as being home to major broadcasters such as BBC, Carlton and newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror there are a wide range of theatres, opera, ballet, and art galleries.
The creative industries are seen as one of the key sectors to further contribute to the area's continued growth and expansion, and to enrich and embrace the wide diversity of talent that we have to offer. There are major developments planned and underway throughout Eastside, the Jewellery Quarter, and the Custard Factory to create a focus for further growth and support to the industries over the coming years.
Initiatives include:
University of Central England (UCE), Media ContentLab: Since becoming operational at the beginning of 2003, a number of growing media companies in the West Midlands are benefiting from the University of Central England's £2.70 million centre for new media production.
Based in UCE's Department of Media and Communication, Media ContentLab provides first class equipment and expertise for growing media businesses in the region.
Custard Factory: Housed in and around the old Bird's custard factory, when complete it will be the largest single complex of creative activity in Europe. It will provide 250,000 sq. ft of 'affordable' workspace for as many as 1,000 creative people from many different creative industries sub-sectors.
The award-winning first phase is already home to a dynamic bohemian community of 500 artists and small creative enterprises. The latest phase includes a hundred studio/offices, shops, galleries, and restaurants, plus the Green Man, a towering 40 ft sculpture made of earth, fire and water. On the way are a small luxury hotel, live/work apartments, a riverside walk, a new bridge, a perfumed garden for the blind, and a 40,000 sq ft international design and exhibition centre.
Overseas Investment The West Midlands has long been established as a premier European region for attracting inward investment. In fact it is currently the UK's most successful region for attracting foreign direct investment, and is amongst the top five in Europe.
The West Midlands is home to over 2,100 overseas companies from 38 different countries, employing 11% of the regions workforce - nearly a quarter of a million people. Birmingham itself can boast over 300 overseas companies, which employ over 38,000 people.
International companies based in the West Midlands include Peugeot, Ford, BMW, Fujitsu, Oracle, Gap, Denso, IBM, NEC and Johnson Controls.
Economic Profile
Business Parks in Birmingham Birmingham has a network of both well-established and exciting new business parks, each providing an environment in which businesses can thrive.
Business Parks and major tenants Aston Science Park (9 hectares, 22 acres) with plans to create a 60 acre integrated campus for Aston Science Park and Aston University.
- Bostock Marketing Group Ltd (direct marketing & research) - Callscan - Quest Vitamins Ltd (health products) - Sagem (electronics/automotive engineering) - The United Kingdom Science Park Association (professional association)
Bassetts Pole
A greenfield site, next to the M6 Toll, to be developed as a prestige business park The site is subject to confirmation and, if approved, is likely to become available in 2005
Birmingham Business Park (40 hectares, 100 acres).
- Alliance & Leicester (financial services) - Hewlett Packard (IT) - Hitachi Data Systems (mainframe computer manufacture) - IMI (engineering) - Orange (telecommunications)
Birmingham Research Park
Accommodation for knowledge based businesses Includes - the Information & Communications Technology Centre (ICT) Centre, dedicated to the rapid growth of IT related ventures - aQtive Ltd (computer softare) - CDS Telepath (IT solutions to the healthcare industry) - Midland Medical Technologies Ltd (orthopaedic devices) - Talis Information Systems (library information services)
Blythe Valley (69 hectares, 170 acres)
- Oracle (IT services) - Arup (engineering) - British Gas (energy supplier) - Virgin Active (health club)
Catesby Park (3.6 hectares, 9 acres>
- Thomas Walker (shipping)
- Gravelly Industrial Park (32.4 hectares, 80 acres)
- Carlton 021 (media) - USF Walter Trowal (surface preparation and finishing) - Arjo U.K. Merchants Ltd (paper distributor)
- Hatchford Brook (3.49 hectares, 8.63 acres)
- ACL Autolease - Sendo (mobile 'phone manufacturer)
The Hub, Birmingham (33 hectares, 80 acres)
Prime brownfield site, suitable for offices, production and warehouse. Site of former IMI works.
- Kings Norton Business Centre
- Johnsons Controls (automotive assembly) - Exel Logistics (automotive distribution) - Autoglass (automotive assembly) - Newey & Eyre (electrical wholesalers) - Lloyds TSB Bank (bank)
Network Park (7 hectares, 17 acres)
- Nestle (beverages manufacturer)
- Nexus Point (16 hectares, 39 acres) production/ distribution scheme
- AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd (pharmaceuticals) - Universal Office Supplies (office supplies) - Post Office (bank) - Abbey National Group (financial services)
Parklands (12 hectares, 29.7 acres) office development
- Compass Group (food service)
- Peddimore (56 hectares, 137 acres)
Two miles from the M6 Toll Opportunity for a high quality development by a single user.
Quinton Business Park (7 hectares, 18-acre) office park
- The Highways Agency (agency for the Dept of Transport)
Ringway Business Park (3.3 hectares, 8.2 acres) production/ warehouse units and office buildings
