A student and graduate guide to Birmingham - the first of its kind in England - has been shortlisted for a prestigious accolade at the 2011 Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards. 

'Birmingham: Your Life Starts Here' features in the Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team category, and contains everything students need to know about life in the city - from where to bag a bargain, get a culture fix or enjoy a bite to eat.

Designed to help spread the word of Birmingham's unique offer to prospective students and retain talented graduates in the city the guide was published by global travel experts Lonely Planet last year.

The informative booklet supported the city's successful Visit Birmingham campaign and was developed in partnership with Birmingham's higher education institutions, Aston University; Birmingham City University; Newman University College; University College Birmingham and University of Birmingham. 

Emma Gray, Director of Marketing Services at Marketing Birmingham, which manages the Visit Birmingham campaign, believes the joint approach to producing the guide was key to its success:

"Birmingham offers world class theatre, restaurants, shopping and leisure attractions which make the city a perfect location for those wanting to enjoy a varied lifestyle and career. By working with Lonely Planet to produce 'Birmingham: a student and graduate guide' and the city's five universities, we have been able to bring the city's vibrant offering to life through a guidebook that provides insider knowledge from students and graduates themselves - an approach that has proved extremely popular.

"To be shortlisted for an award of this calibre is a great achievement for the teams involved in the promotion of the book, reflecting the innovative approach the city takes when marketing itself."

Kathryn Jones, Director of Marketing at Birmingham City University, said:

"Birmingham is a city we are all very proud of so it made sense that we worked together to ensure potential students are given an insight into what this area has to offer.

"We looked to Lonely Planet to apply their expertise in telling Birmingham's success story in a way that accurately reflects the growing buzz about the city.

"All partners are delighted to have been shortlisted by the Times Higher Education for one of their respected awards - it's a fitting reward for the hard work that went into producing this guide."

Following the success of the guide 'Birmingham: Your Life Starts Here' Visit Birmingham developed an iPhone app with Lonely Planet to bring the city's vibrant offering to life through an interactive platform and has currently been downloaded over 27,000 times. The app was downloaded almost 24,000 in the week of its launch in February this year.