Birmingham is one of the most vibrant cities in the West Midland in which to live, work and study. With an urban population of almost 100,000 in 2001, it is one of the most highly populated cities in the UK. If you take into account the wider West Midlands conurbation which includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, and Wolverhampton, that figure rockets to well over two million. Given its population, it will come as no surprise that this vibrant, dynamic city offers everything that you would expect of a major city – great universities, diverse architecture, shopping galore, bars and restaurants to suit every palate and purse, a fantastic cultural and night life, and even its own city airport!
Historically, Birmingham has been a major UK hub for the manufacturing and engineering industries. In more recent times, the emphasis has shifted to the service, retail and tourism industries. Both Midlands Bank (now HSBC) and Lloyds Bank were established in Birmingham in the eighteenth century, and the Birmingham economy continues to be based in large part on the financial and insurance sectors. The city also boasts over 500 law firms. This diversified economy accounted for £15.2 billion of the UK’s export economy in 2005, and has had a significant impact on UK GDP growth.
The strength and growth of Birmingham’s economy and commerce has fuelled the growth of serviced offices in the area. Lately, the market has become over-saturated and supply has outstripped demand consistently over the last few months (November, 2008). Rates per serviced office workstation have experienced somewhat of a downturn as a result over recent months.
City Centre
All the main serviced office operators have a presence in Birmingham. High-end options include MWB’s centre on Brindley Place, which is currently offering office space for as little as £300 a workstation, and Regus’s Victoria Square and Brindley business centres, both of which are offering excellent deals at the moment, with prices going as low as £200 a workstation. Citibase also offers good quality office space on both its Temple Row and Blucher Street business centres. It continues to set the trend for low prices by setting workstation rates as low as £150. Avanta has an option on Church Street but it has full occupancy almost consistently. A number of other independent operators situations close to the station will do excellent deals.
Digbeth
Digbeth, located slightly to the south of the city centre, houses a number of properties that can provide non-serviced options at around £15 per square foot and below. In fact, prices can at times dip below the £10 per sq. ft. mark due to the availability of office space in Birmingham itself. The amount of surplus office space available in the area has driven prices south over the last few years.
Edgbaston
Edgbaston, to the west of Birmingham, offers a range of independent serviced office space options that can accommodate smaller requirements for businesses on tighter budgets. Usually, pricing will be given by the room instead of by workstation.
Solihull
There is a huge amount of serviced office space further west of Birmingham, towards Solihull. It offers many business parks that can accommodate both small and large requirements. Regus has two business centres close to the M42 as do City Executive Centres. Large enquiries often come through for this area as many non-serviced and/or managed solutions can easily be sourced. A number of serviced office centres, such as Equipoint, diverse their products to accommodate conventional enquiries, while Aston Science Park is willing to be flexible on lease length and license agreements.
As we have seen, Birmingham, like Milton Keynes, has an oversaturated market which means that there are excellent deals in the offing on a whole range of options. There is also a lot of conventional office space on the market with excellent rent-free periods, serving to further boost the highly competitive nature of this dynamic and compelling location.