Opinion: What the UK being declared the world’s top location for business and professional services means for the West Midlands
A new global report commissioned by the City of London Corporation reveals that the UK remains the world’s most competitive destination for business and professional services (City AM).
Hilary Smyth-Allen, Executive Lead for SuperTech, outlines what this means for the sector regionally and how it relates to SuperTech.
The release of a fresh look at the competitive offering of London as a global city, cements important statements for the UK and whilst centred on the capital, there are important messages for regional centres beyond the capital, such as Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
First, the London proposition is founded on core strengths and density of presence of financial and professional services sector (BPFS). As the BPFS sector is the largest sector in the West Midlands, and identified as a globally relevant cluster of full-service offerings, the new report provides a clear approach that our region can line up behind and contribute accordingly. This in itself is an important point, recognising that, to quote a panellist at the launch event, “a zero sum gain” where London’s loss is a region’s gain, but rather a situation whereby London’s success is fuel and critical to the wider UK’s growth in these sectors. And not just the services sectors because their growth is fundamental in the catalytic enabling effect on other sectors where London is not the driving force e.g. advanced manufacturing.
Second, the framework adopted in the report is intuitive, thankfully not reinventing the wheel and one that provides renewed focus for factors that are front and centre of the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy implementation for the BPFS sector. Five key factors were used to assess and evidence London’s competitive strengths compared to other global cities such as Hong Kong, New York, Singapore amongst others. These are:
Innovative ecosystem
Reach of financial activity
Resilient business structure
Access to talent and skills
Enabling regulatory and legal environment
Clearly not all of these are within the gift of a region, but some are and by pushing to advance our ecosystem, there is much to be gained in terms of contributing to UK growth, delivering more opportunity for West Midlands businesses and in doing so, improving the quality of life for our people.
SuperTech is a critical part of the strategy and the visible activity that is focused on accelerating innovation and championing The West Midlands as an actively engaged team UK player.
To find out more and get involved in SuperTech visit: www.supertechwm.com or follow SuperTech on LinkedIn and Twitter