Birmingham ranked best UK regional city for quality of life
BIRMINGHAM has been ranked as having the highest quality of life of any UK city outside of the capital.
The global Mercer Quality of Living Report 2015 sees Birmingham placed at jointly with Rome in 52nd out of 230 rankings.
Birmingham’s nearest UK rivals included Glasgow (55th), Aberdeen (57th), and Belfast (63rd). The city placed ahead of international hotspots such as Hong Kong, Miami and Dubai.
Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Birmingham’s ranking as the best place to live in the UK outside of London is confirmation of what its growing numbers of residents have known for some time. The city’s exceptional offer benefits its residents, visitors and workers alike and make it a vibrant, attractive city unlike any other in the UK.
“This will be an exceptional year for Birmingham, with the city hosting both the Rugby World Cup and the Ashes, as well as the arrival of the Grand Central development with its flagship John Lewis store and city cultural celebrations. With all this to offer, we hope Birmingham will hold onto its UK leading ranking for some time.”
The ranking announcement follows figures showing that Birmingham’s festive offering attracted record footfall and consumer spend in 2014 – with 5.5m visitors spending an all -time high of £397m across the city.
The ranking has also recently been reflected in ONS figures, which revealed that the city was the leading choice for young professionals leaving the capital. More than 5,450 thirtysomethings flocked to Birmingham in 2013.
Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham – which operates the city’s inward investment programme, Business Birmingham – said: “Recent Government statistics suggest that there are more people choosing to move to Birmingham than ever before.
“People are increasingly seeing our region as an obvious choice to build a career and raise a family. It offers all the cultural attractions of the capital but also provides excellent schools, affordable homes and amenities.”
