Agency praised by Site Selection in annual Best to Invest awards.
Business Birmingham has been recognised as the top-performing UK investment agency by specialist locations magazine, Business Birmingham .
As part of the international publication’s annual Best to Invest rankings, Business Birmingham is named in Western Europe’s top three regional Investment Promotion Agencies, behind IMG Saxony-Anhalt of German and the Danish Copenhagen Capacity.
The 2016 awards, which are published in the May edition of the magazine, are voted on by a group of international site consultants, members of the Global FDI (foreign direct investment) Association and Site Selection editorial staff. The group rank all inward investment agencies across the world, with Ireland and Portugal topping the Western Europe National category.
The Best to Invest rankings recognise the day-to-day professionalism and awareness of staff from both a location-specific and national perspective. Criteria includes: most professionally responsive to enquiries; staff possessing the best knowledge and language diversity; offering access to user-friendly databases of sites and incentives; access to recent investors in the region who can vouch for the area and agency; design of website; reputation for protecting investor confidentiality and after-care services.
Neil Rami, Chief Executive of Marketing Birmingham, which operates Business Birmingham, said: “Birmingham has built real momentum as an investment hotspot. We know that investors seek out confident places – the region’s connectivity, talent pool, property offer and quality of life all combine to provide a compelling case for an increasing number of firms.
“The Business Birmingham team carefully targets the sectors and overseas markets that match the region’s areas of strength. With Greater Birmingham & Solihull leading the way in the UK for foreign investment last year, this latest recognition from Site Selection shows that our strategy is paying off.”
During the past 12 months, Birmingham has seen a number of major international firms locate or expand in the city. These include outsourcing firm Sigma Financial Group’s (South Africa) move into the city’s McLaren building, creating up to 1,000 new jobs; IT business Advanced’s relocation to a new Midlands HQ at the Mailbox, bringing 1,000 jobs to the region over the next 18 months; US giant Jacobs Engineering, which has grown its workforce in Birmingham to 300; Park Regis hotel – owned by Australia-based StayWell Hospitality Group – which opened in March, creating over 200 posts; and global architecture company Gensler, which has launched in the Custard Factory, with 40 new staff.
Site Selection is a US-based business magazine, circulated internationally to a specialist audience of more than 55,000 senior, decision-making executives via print and online. Editor in Chief Mark Arend said: “A Top Investment Promotion Agency recognition from Site Selection signals to capital investors worldwide that the organisation delivers the location intelligence they require efficiently, thoroughly and effectively.
“Business Birmingham has clearly demonstrated this ability, which we predict will result in greater interest, if not investment, in the region going forward.”
