Birmingham in top third of world’s leading cities, survey says

DATA from property consultancy JLL’s latest Global 300 cities research places Birmingham in the top 100 world cities.

It ranks 76 for investment and 53 in the world for foreign direct investment (FDI).
 
The success comes on the back of a stellar year in 2014, with Birmingham investment volumes overall up 19% at £1.04bn, higher than at the height of the property boom, with FDI accounting for at least £400m of last year’s total.

Investment also more than doubled in the West Midlands outside Birmingham, growing from £798m to £1.66bn.
 
In terms of economic growth, Birmingham ranked 123 in JLL’s list, higher than many of the UK’s core cities. Between 2012 and 2013 (last updated figures) Birmingham’s workplace based gross value added grew by 6%, more than double the UK rate.

Ben Kelly, JLL’s director of capital markets, said: “The statistics speak for themselves. We have a significantly larger economy, gross domestic product and broader economic base than many of the UK’s other core cities outside London and the South-East.
 
“When the likes of Deutsche Bank and HSBC decide to relocate their headquarters to the city, we don’t have to persuade them Birmingham is on the up, we have a clear case for attracting them.
 
“The broader economic base means we have a far higher amount of high tech and manufacturing inward investments than almost anywhere else in the UK.

“Our employment growth also saw the Midlands among the leaders in 2013 and 2014, outpacing the UK average. More new businesses set up here last year than any other city outside London at nearly 19,000, an increase of 2,000 on the previous year.

“These are incredibly strong indicators for any city and particularly attractive to UK investors and foreign investors alike.
 
“JLL has always firmly believed that the key to attracting investment is for Birmingham to think of itself as a top European city, not just as part of the UK. That’s why these Global 300 rankings are important. We see where Greater Birmingham sits as a global city.”