MIPIM news: City projects promise thousands of new jobs
MASSIVE new infrastructure projects in Birmingham such as the £600m redevelopment of New Street Station and the city’s new library are expected to create tens of thousands of new jobs during the next decade, the city council leader has said.
Speaking at MIPIM, Cllr Mike Whitby said the Gateway project – which includes New Street – would create 10,000 jobs alone, while the library project would bring 250, including at least 25 apprenticeships.
These will be supplemented by the three major schemes announced at the property show: Southern Gateway, Bordesley Park and Ladyport.
Major projects contained within these schemes include a commitment by supermarket giant Asda to spend £100m on a series of new stores, creating 2,000 new jobs, while new back-office services by banks HSBC and Deutsche Bank is set to create a further 600.
“We are already pushing hard to win as many of the Government department relocations, even in advance of the Smith Review, with at least 1,000 jobs coming to Birmingham and potentially many thousands more,” said Cllr Whitby.
Other projects include plans for a 42,000 sq ft food store on the site of the former Astra training complex which will create over 200 jobs, while redevelopment of the former HP Sauce site in Aston for warehousing and a hotel will create nearly 300 jobs.
“These do not include all the construction jobs that will be created as the local economy in Birmingham gathers speed again on projects like Paradise Circus, the Metro extension from Snow Hill to New Street, the runway extension at Birmingham International Airport, as well as on projects already under way like Birmingham Gateway and the Library of Birmingham.
“There are simply too many projects coming out of the ground and coming off the drawing boards to be denied and even the cynics are having to take their hats off to this vibrant city,” he added.
The council has also announced a new partnership with IT giant Cisco which will enable it to link up with an exclusive club of global cities such as San Francisco, Barcelona, Paris, Dubai, London, Bangalore, Toronto and Mumbai.
Birmingham Science Park Aston is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Cisco that will see the installation of state-of-the-art video conferencing facilities such as TelePresence.
“Putting Birmingham at the forefront of international communication will allow companies to connect to their international counterparts seamlessly, but without the expense of long-distance travel.
“This first step is only the beginning of a long-term partnership, to invest in Birmingham and bring more big name technology companies to the Science Park,” said Cllr Whitby.
He said the cornerstone of the plan would be the £40m ICT village announced earlier in the week.
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