Birmingham has attracted more inward investment into its city centre in the past two years than UK rival cities Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
According to the latest Big 6 research from JLL, which measures city centre inward investment activity across these key provincial hubs, in square footage terms, Birmingham has outperformed its five other UK rivals.
In the two-year period from Q1 2014 to Q1 2016, the UK’s second city reported 688,000 sq ft of city centre space let to inward investors compared with 465,000 sq ft in Manchester and 328,500 sq ft in Glasgow, its nearest rivals.
Birmingham’s figure amounts to 35% of the total inward investment lettings across the six cities.
Meanwhile, according to a separate JLL study, the City Momentum Index, Birmingham is also one of the best-performing cities in Europe.
The CMI tracks a city’s short-term socio-economic and real estate momentum in combination with measures of whether a city has the longer-term foundations for success.
Birmingham has been placed at number 15 in the 2016 table, which is headed by London, with Dublin and Paris in second and third positions respectively.
Ian Cornock, lead director for the Midlands region at JLL, said: “The Big 6 and CMI results add up to exceptionally good news for Birmingham.”
However, reflecting on the fact that Manchester and Edinburgh finished above Birmingham in the CMI rankings, Cornock said Birmingham could not afford to become complacent.
“Perhaps the standings of some other cities are based on the fact that they are further along the devolution curve than Birmingham and to that end we must ensure that we are fully geared up to handle the additional responsibilities that come with greater autonomy,” he said.
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