Birmingham must work harder to overcome perceptions says new HSBC chief

BIRMINGHAM and the wider city-region has so much to offer the rest of the country in terms of investment potential and quality of life – and yet the rest of the country remains blissfully unaware of the opportunities.

This stark message was delivered by Lucy Williams, Head of Compliance at HSBC – the first senior executive from the bank to have transferred from London to Birmingham following its decision to locate the headquarters of its new retail bank – HSBC UK – in the city.

Ms Williams was delivering the key note speech at the AGM of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership – and she pulled no punches in her address.

Those attending the meeting were shown a video of Ms Williams at her previous home in Kent and the journey she had taken relocating her family to the second city.

She said the welcome she had received since moving to the area had been wonderful and she was now proud to call the city her home.

However, she said the self-deprecating nature of people in Birmingham was causing real problems for the way it was perceived.

“I had not been to Birmingham for 20 years up until the bank’s decision to relocate but when I arrived I was absolutely amazed by the changes that had taken place,” she told the audience.

“But therein lies the problem.

“We have heard today about the amazing stories that you have here in this region but it’s not here that people need to be told; it’s in the other regions, in London and elsewhere.

“We have to work harder overcoming the way this area is perceived – it’s only when we get people here that they realise how much is on offer, but we have to change that and hopefully HSBC’s decision to set up its headquarters here will help.”

She said Birmingham’s unique transport connectivity had been a key factor in its choosing of the city for its new base.

She said staff would be able to travel into New Street Station then get on a Metro tram and stop right outside the new office in Centenary Square.

“Imagine how great that’s going to be,” she said.

She said the bank had also been impressed by quality of graduates available in the city, while the relatively low housing costs – at least compared with London – had also been a contributory factor.

“It is those young people who will eventually go on to become the future of this bank,” she added.

The bank is set to open in early 2018 once all the retail services have been established in the new headquarters.