Birmingham has a strong claim to be the United Kingdom’s “second city”; it is, after all, the country’s second-largest city, and this West Midlands hub has attracted a flurry of ambitious businesses.
Should you follow their lead by establishing your own company in Birmingham? There are doubtless strong reasons to do so; here are just a few incentives to join the many start-ups there already.
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The local economy has kept growing and growing
Brexit? What Brexit? While the UK’s looming uncoupling from the European Union might have dampened the country’s economic prospects, we would bet on Birmingham weathering the storm well in the years ahead. That’s on account of the impressive economic growth the city has achieved.
Since 2010, Birmingham’s economy has grown by £32.9bn, notes Real Business – and, in that time, 428,000 more people entered employment locally, hinting at a buoyant jobs market.
Birmingham has a strong community spirit
In 2017, Catherine Warrilow, the then-head of brand for the family attractions website Day Out With The Kids, enthused to Real Business about many benefits of working in Birmingham.
For example, she observed that, while Birmingham “may be smaller in size than London, it … means that everyone has the chance to be really connected to all parts of the city.” She hailed the “real sense of pride in Birmingham business” in comparison to the “more diluted” such pride in London.
Birmingham is well-connected by public transport
This can bode well for when you want to attract both workers and customers from beyond the city’s borders. Warrilow has observed how her company succeeded in recruiting “exceptional people in the area, all of which commute from within a short radius.”
You might not have realised that, as Startups.co.uk points out, Birmingham is just an hour-and-a-half away by train from London Euston railway station. This allows you to easily arrange face-to-face meetings with London clients.
There is an impressive wealth of educational resources
These don’t just include the city’s four universities – the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, Ashton University and Newman University – from which you could appreciate recruiting new staff as your business grows.
Adam Gore, who launched his company Barberology in Birmingham, has pointed out that “Google recently opened a Digital Garage on the high street, offering free digital training for individuals and businesses looking to become more visible and effective online.”
You shouldn’t struggle to find suitable office space
Finding the right office space for a new business can be tricky. After all, that space often has to be sufficiently stripped-down to fall within a tight budget, but also flexible enough to account for potential growth in the business. Fortunately, Birmingham has a plentiful supply of office space.
This includes serviced offices in Birmingham, allowing you to move your business straight into well-supplied premises without having to spend too much time setting up infrastructure before you and your staff can actually get to work. BE Offices is one example provider of such space in this flourishing cosmopolitan city.
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