Ahead of the launch of BE Offices’ new building in Birmingham, we decided to find out a bit more about the West Midlands powerhouse.
The UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham was voted Britain’s best place to grow a small business in the Enterprising Britain Awards 2016.
It welcomed 41.8 million visitors in 2017 and is the home of Cadbury World which attracts millions of chocolate lovers annually making it the UK’s chocolate capital. John Cadbury could not have imagined the legacy he would leave when he opened his first store in the city in 1824. By 1879 Cadbury opened model factory town Bourneville.
With 56 kilometres of canals (more than Venice and Amsterdam), Birmingham is a city of a thousand trades, famous also for car plants and still producing 40% of the UK’s jewellery. It was the home of the world’s first steam engine in 1712 and the first cotton mill in 1941.
Out and about in Birmingham The Bull Ring has over 200 shops and attracts 40 million visitors annually. 2.4 million annual visitors patronise the UK’s biggest library and the city’s five universities educate 73,000 students.
Among Europe’s youngest cities, the under 25s make up 40% of the population.
Looking to the future, Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
