Celebrating the West Midlands’ Wins of 2025
SiteSelectionWM: Putting Opportunity on the Map
The West Midlands showed up to UKREiiF 2025 in force. Our region’s delegation once again hosted one of the biggest pavilions and one of the most impressive event programmes at the event.
Across the week, we heard from our sponsors, Joanne Roney CBE, and the Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, who all demonstrated how the transformative power of the West Midlands is driving real estate and regeneration opportunities across the region.
In his keynote address, Richard Parker also launched our new flagship place marketing and investment promotion platform, SiteSelectionWM. This digital investment prospectus tool helps developers and occupiers find the right opportunities from a portfolio worth over £19bn.
Thank you to our sponsors and partners who made up the West Midlands delegation this year. Your insight and support truly made the event one to remember.
We’re happy to say that we will be returning to UKREiiF in 2026 with a whole new programme that will showcase the West Midlands’ powerful offering.
FDI: The UK’s Top City Region for Global Investment
2025 marked another landmark year for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the West Midlands with the release of the Department for Business and Trade’s Inward Investment Results in July.
It found that in the 2024/25 financial year, more global companies invested in the West Midlands than any other UK region outside of London, with 130 inward investment projects choosing our region. This performance highlights the West Midlands’ growing reputation as a destination of choice for international businesses looking to establish, scale and succeed in the UK.
Since 2021, the region has secured 444 FDI projects, a powerful signal of long-term confidence from some of the world’s most ambitious companies. Investors continue to be drawn by the West Midlands’ strengths across advanced manufacturing, digital, clean energy and life sciences.
Looking ahead, the impact of this investment is set to grow even further. The West Midlands region is home to over 100 innovation hubs, 11 science parks, and ten universities – including two in the Russell Group – that support an industry-led R&D ecosystem where business R&D investment doubled between 2010 and 2019.
Birmingham Knowledge Quarter: Accelerating Growth and Collaboration
The growth of the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter has been another significant win, with this government-backed Investment Zone set to create over 22,000 new jobs. The zone underlines the region’s strengths in research, innovation and knowledge-led development. With anchor institutions including Aston University, Birmingham City University, leading hospitals and innovative businesses working more closely than ever, the Knowledge Quarter continues to attract investment, talent and high-value activity.
This momentum has been reinforced by major international businesses choosing to expand and invest within the Knowledge Quarter. In 2025, clean energy technology company EcoFlow opened its new UK headquarters in Birmingham, strengthening the region’s position as a hub for sustainable innovation and green growth. Meanwhile, global tech leader Cisco expanded its presence at the STEAMhouse Innovation Centre, deepening collaboration between industry, academia, and entrepreneurs while supporting the commercialisation of cutting-edge digital technologies.
Together, these investments highlight the strength of the Knowledge Quarter’s collaborative ecosystem. By bringing together universities, global firms and innovators, the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter is driving invention, accelerating commercialisation and delivering inclusive, sustainable economic growth for the region.
From Pitch to Prosperity
Birmingham City Football Club, Tom Wagner and the new Birmingham Sports Quarter have been proudly taking the stage this year.
Looking to create not only a new home for BCFC, but a wider thriving Sports Quarter on the eastern edge of Birmingham, Tom Wagner and Richard Parker secured funding for a new metro extension, a vital vein connecting the Sports Quarter and the city centre.
The Sports Quarter will be crowned with the new Powerhouse Stadium, the design for which was unveiled in November.
The regeneration of the surrounding area will create incredible opportunities for residents, developers and businesses alike. And with Wagner ambitiously hoping to complete construction on the stadium in the next five years, it is definitely a space to watch.
Regional Investment Summit 2025
A standout moment in this year’s calendar was the inaugural Regional Investment Summit, successfully delivered in Birmingham. The summit brought together global investors, business leaders, policymakers and regional partners in an event that spotlighted the West Midlands as a prime location for investment.
Global investors confirmed nearly £800 million of new commitments to the West Midlands, a strong pipeline of investments, including to the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, the NEC, West Bromwich, and to our local technology and life sciences offerings.
As Jason Stockwood, Minister for Investment, put it: “The West Midlands is a powerhouse for foreign direct investment.”
The Summit highlighted a strengthening investment environment where momentum is translating into tangible outcomes.
Birmingham Tech Week: Showcasing Innovation and Digital Excellence
Birmingham Tech Week, held in October, reinforced the West Midlands’ growing reputation as a hub for digital innovation and emerging technologies. Across a packed programme of events, the region demonstrated its capabilities in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, data, Fintech and immersive technologies.
Local tech businesses, investors and partners, helped to amplify the region’s tech ecosystem, showing how the West Midlands is a leader of digital transformation, redefining and pushing boundaries through innovation.
Birmingham Tech Week celebrated the ongoing drive for innovation, showing why the West Midlands is compelling destination for future digital investment.
Looking Ahead
The West Midlands has always been a significant centre for inward investment, business and R&D in the UK. 2025 has reaffirmed our standing. Our achievements reflect the collective efforts of our partners, stakeholders and wider regional ecosystem.
As we look ahead, the West Midlands remains focused on building on this momentum, attracting high-quality investment and supporting growth that delivers real benefits for communities across the region.
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