This is a Golden Decade of Opportunity for Birmingham and its people – a period book-ended by this summer’s unforgettable Commonwealth Games and the arrival of high-speed rail in a decade’s time.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games showcased both the city’s rich history, diversity and its bright future as a major cultural and economic centre of the UK. With over five million people visiting the city and millions watching from 134 countries worldwide, Birmingham’s successful hosting of the Games firmly reinforced its place on the international stage.

Built out of enterprise, skill and determination, the ‘City of a Thousand Trades’ has been at the strategic heart of the United Kingdom for centuries. The entrepreneurial spirit that led the industrial revolution is still in existence all over the city, with more business starting up here than anywhere outside of London.

Birmingham is now more than ever a natural home for innovators and developers: it has one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in Europe, enviable centres of learning, great quality of life, a diverse economy and unrivalled connectivity.

Home to a thriving, full-service business ecosystem, the city is an established global business centre with credibility: global companies such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and HSBC UK all have a significant presence there. Leading voices across legal and accounting boost the cluster’s reputation, with Gowling WLG; Hogan Lovells; DLA Piper; Beazley, Zurich; and Direct Line some of the well-known names to call the city home.

Birmingham is also the UK’s fastest-growing tech cluster, with a workforce expected to double by 2025. As the country’s first 5G testbed the city is primed with opportunities to develop cross-cutting innovation across high growth industries of the future, such as Industry 4.0; low carbon tech; data-driven healthcare; and cybersecurity.

Ambition backed with investment is transforming Birmingham, with transformative schemes to welcome leading global businesses and people wishing to make Birmingham their home: iconic city centre offices at Paradise, one of Europe’s largest mixed use and leisure schemes at Smithfield, new communities being created at Langley and Perry Barr and retrofit and net zero infrastructure projects across the city.

Birmingham is driving for more and forming partnerships for progress. Their ‘Our Future City: Central Birmingham Framework 2040’ will radically alter the breadth of development across Central Birmingham and their plans to level-up East Birmingham, an area the size of most cities, are unprecedented in scale and ambition.

2022 was the year all eyes were on Birmingham. Now is the time for the city to be bold and deliver a legacy of prosperity positioning itself at the heart of a regional and national economic revival.