Pictured: Scott Rutherford
Birmingham is still among the best cities in Europe in which to
do business, according to a major new survey.
The survey - Cushman & Wakefield's European Cities Monitor
(ECM) 2011- saw the city ranked 18th 'best city to locate a
business', the same position it held a year ago.
Only three UK cities feature in the survey's top 20 - London
retains its ranking at the head of the rankings, while Birmingham's
northern rival Manchester has slipped to 16th, a drop of four
places from where it was in 2010.
The ECM survey is based on the views of more than 500 senior
executives from Europe's largest companies. It provides an overview
of the perceptions that corporate occupiers have about the various
cities of Europe.
Interesting, the top 20 cities in the survey are the same ones
as last year, with only Stockholm (13th) and Zurich (10th) managing
to improve their rankings.
The ECM data produces various other rankings, and in several of
these, Birmingham's performance has improved considerably.
In 'best cities in terms of freedom from pollution', the city
has shot up from 27th last year to 22nd in 2011. And in the list of
'best cities in terms of external transport links', the Midlands
city has zoomed up to 6th, from last year's tenth place. London, in
first place, is the only other UK city in the top ten of this list,
which is based on perceptions of how cities perform in terms of
transport links with other cities and internationally.
Birmingham has also maintained its performance is in 'best city
in terms of availability of office space', where it is fourth equal
with Leeds, the same position it was in a year ago.
Scott Rutherford, head of the Birmingham office of Cushman &
Wakefield, said that it was significant that people's perception of
the city with regard to transport links had improved so
dramatically.
"Transport is everything - it reflects a location, and it is one
of the key criteria for it," he said. "If you are going to be good
at anything, then make it transport links."
He added that the perception that Birmingham had good transport
links would have been boosted by Chiltern's new fast service to
London Marylebone, and by the introduction of the new London
Midland class 172 trains.
Future improvements, such as the New Street station
refurbishment and the extended runway at Birmingham Airport, would
further strengthen the region's transport credentials, he said.
"Also, Birmingham has maintained its overall position in the
survey, against a difficult economic backdrop. Recent positive news
about the manufacturing sector, including the new Jaguar Land Rover
engine plant at i54, will hopefully lead to an even better result
in 2012."