SECTOR FOCUS: PROPERTY
Birmingham to be global finance hub B
irmingham has embarked on an ‘unprecedented’ construction spree to
meet record demand from financial services firms. More than one million square feet
of office space is set to be built in the city before the end of 2017, as financial services companies flock to the business district Among them is HSBC, which
recently announced it was moving its retail banking head office to the city in Birmingham’s biggest deal for more than a decade According to Marketing
Birmingham, the city’s inward investment agency, the construction spree is part of a plan to turn Birmingham into a global financial services hub by 2030, competing with other major European cities for investment. Demand for office space has “skyrocketed” in the past 12 months, says
‘The sheer scale of planned development is attracting financial firms from across the world’
Marketing Birmingham, with the city attracting some of the world’s biggest firms. Last year saw the highest take-up levels in office space since before the recession, with £630m transacted in deals within the city centre, compared to just £70.5m in 2013 – an increase of nearly 800 per cent. Sir Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “This is an
important part of our plan to turn Birmingham into a global city within 20 years. We’re investing on an unprecedented scale to entice businesses here, and the sheer scale of planned development is attracting financial firms from across the world. Birmingham is competing with international financial services hubs like Zurich and Frankfurt as it bids to bring even more global
New build: 2 Arena Central, which will become home to HSBC
businesses to the city.” HSBC will be moving into 2 Arena
Central in Birmingham. Work starts on the development this summer and HSBC will occupy the site from early 2018. Young professionals are also
flocking to Birmingham, with 5,480 Londoners in their thirties moving there last year alone – the highest of any regional city. Greater Birmingham is also
attracting a record number foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. The city is already the largest regional financial and professional services hub in the UK, employing nearly 220,000 people in more than 21,000 companies, and bringing £15bn into the region. And the city says it can help ease the burden on London as a financial centre by encouraging London-based firms to
expand into Birmingham – as Deutsche Bank did last year. Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, said: “Birmingham
has worked incredibly hard to transform itself into a prime destination for financial and professional services firms. Those firms demand and need world-class office space, and the city is providing that on an unprecedented scale. We have affordable and smart Grade ‘A’ office space here, in a city that will be at the heart of HS2 and has invested record amounts improving its transport infrastructure. The private sector here is rising faster than any other part of Britain, and that is also a big draw for financial firms. We are consistently creating more start-ups than any other regional city, and Birmingham is rapidly being transformed into a global hub for enterprise.”
JULY/AUGUST 2015 CHAMBERLINK 47
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