Birmingham, biggest mover in European league table, second to London for UK business

Oct 6 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Mail

BIRMINGHAM is the biggest mover in an influential league table of European cities, eclipsing Manchester to become second only to London in the UK for business.

But the city still lags behind its North-west rival in terms of potential for future inward investment, with only three companies naming Birmingham as a location they expected to expand in the next five years, compared to seven citing Manchester, according to the survey.

The city rose up the rankings by seven places to reach 14th place in the Cushman & Wakefield’s European Cities Monitor, while Manchester dropped two places from 14th to 16th place.

London, Paris and Frankfurt remain the top three cities for business, according to the report which is based on interviews with 500 senior executives from leading European companies.

As well as boasting the biggest rise in the rankings of 34 cities across Europe, Birmingham has also risen in 11 of the 12 key categories.

The city was recognised by Europe’s corporate community as offering the best value-for-money office space – ranked joint first with Leeds – and was in the top ten for availability of qualified staff, availability of office space, ease of access to markets and for having a network of external transport links.

Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Birmingham is investing heavily in its public infrastructure and for the benefits that this affords to the business community to be recognised, not just here at home but, importantly, amongst our peers across Europe, is extremely gratifying.”  

Scott Rutherford, head of Cushman & Wakefield Birmingham, said Birmingham’s performance was evidence that the city’s profile in Europe was higher than ever.