Birmingham remains second-largest business, professional, and financial services cluster in UK
Birmingham has retained its status as the second-largest city in the UK in terms of business, professional, and financial services (BPFS) employment according to TheCityUK’s ‘Enabling Growth Across The UK report’.
The report evaluates the financial and related professional service industry’s economic contribution to the regions and nations of the UK. Based on analysis of the latest available data, the report sets out recommendations focusing on devolution and growth, people, and prosperity in order to further enhance the industry’s positive contribution to the UK economy. Key findings of the report include:
- Around two thirds of people in employment in the industry work outside the capital, with Birmingham being the second largest city in the UK for this.
- Financial and related professional services contributed £245bn to the UK economy. This represented 12.5% of the total gross value added (GVA).
- The UK is the world’s leading net exporter of financial services. Its trade surplus in financial and related professional services was £82.3bn, according to TheCityUK estimates.
- Nearly 2.5 million people worked in financial and related professional services across the UK, representing 7.6% of the working population, or approximately one in every 13 jobs.
The West Midlands already stands out for our multiple sector strengths. The region is already recognised as 1 of 3 “established” FinTech hubs by the UK Government, is home to SuperTech the UK’s only ProfTech supercluster, is home to the ‘Big Four’ consultancies of PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY, and has gained further global credibility with leading brands such as Goldman Sachs and HSBC UK both being headquartered in the region.
Goldman Sachs and HSBC UK are both featured as case studies within the report, providing insight into why the West Midlands’ diverse quality of life offering, talent pool, and connectivity links, helped cement their decisions to invest in the region.