Teaming up to promote Birmingham's image
Public affairs correspondent Paul Dale looks at a quiet revolution in how Birmingham is set to market itself nationally and internationally.
The biggest shake-up for decades in the way Birmingham presents itself to the outside world will be agreed later this month, bringing together the city’s two best-known marketing organisations under one roof.
Marketing Birmingham is to join forces with the city council’s inward investment team Locate in Birmingham, forming a joint operation which it is hoped will pump out a single unified message about the city’s attractions as a business, tourism and conference centre.
Nervous council bosses are describing the new partnership as a co-location rather than a merger for fear that the venture will be regarded as private-sector-led Marketing Birmingham taking over the smaller public-sector Locate in Birmingham. It is thought inevitable, however, that the two bodies will formally amalgamate at some stage in the future.
The arrangement, which will see Locate in Birmingham move in the new year to share offices with Marketing Birmingham at Millennium Point, has been enthusiastically welcomed by business leaders who have long campaigned for greater clarity in the city’s promotional message.
Crucially, the change will for the first time give Marketing Birmingham and the private sector a chance to become involved in attracting inward investment in the form of luring new businesses to the city – a role carried out by Locate in Birmingham until now.
It should also help to answer continual criticism, raised again recently by departing council regeneration director Clive Dutton, that Birmingham is prone to making something of a hash of promoting itself.
Claiming that Birmingham still remains anonymous in London, Mr Dutton added that too much time was spent trying to “do marketing by committee” and called for a greater role for the private sector.
His comments followed publication of the latest Cushman & Wakefield European Cities Monitor last month, which contained mixed messages.
While Birmingham is ranked as Europe’s most improved business city, behind only London in the UK, and leads the way in value-for-money office space, its attractions remain virtually unknown to foreign executives.
Birmingham languishes almost at the bottom of 34 European locations with only 25 per cent of respondents admitting they are familiar with the city as a business location.
Only three companies taking part in the survey said they were likely to relocate to Birmingham in the next five years, against seven naming Manchester as the city selected for their next headquarters.
When asked to name the cities thought to be most improving themselves, Birmingham did not feature at all among the 500 senior executives questioned by Cushman & Wakefield.
The new promotional set-up for Birmingham has the backing of council chief executive Stephen Hughes and council leader Mike Whitby, who will be given a more hands-on role as an international ambassador and named President of Marketing Birmingham at the organisation’s AGM on November 25.
Mr Hughes said: “There is obvious synergy in having these two organisations working closely together.
“The real benefit is having clearer linkage between marketing the city and how we support businesses that are interested in coming to the city and how we deal with them.”
Marketing Birmingham chief executive Neil Rami said the new arrangements would enable the two organisations to make better use of their joint £10 million budgets.
