CS - Birmingham - A place that has undergone rebranding

Why did Birmingham need to rebrand?

• The 1980s and 90s were a period of steady decline as industrial activity declined

• Used to be highly industrial, housing the car maker Rover

  • factories closed due to outsourcing + greater focus on tertiary employment —> less tax paid into the area —> less money to invest in employment opportunities, healthcare and education

• The perceptions of Birmingham were that it was a dirty industrial city in decline

Name the strategies involved in rebranding the place

• The Birmingham Smithfield

• The National Exhibition Centre

• The millenium point

• Brindley Place

• The Bull Ring

What is the Birmingham Smithfield, how much did it cost, and what will it provide?

• Site of the Birmingham manor house where the De Birmingham family had lived for centuries

• Cost £1.9 billion

• Will provide:

  • New home for city’s historic bull ring markets

  • Festival square

  • Landscaped park

  • Integrated public transport

  • 1000s of new homes

When was The National Exhibition Centre opened

• Opened in 1976 on greenbelt land

• Was controversial

What is the location and size of the National Exhibition Centre

• Location near to Birmingham International Airport, so closer to visitors coming from abroad for exhibitions

• UK’s largest exhibition venue:

  • 18 interconnecting halls

  • 34 conference suites

How many visitors and exhibitions does the National Exhibition Centre have every year

• 2.4 million visitors

• Over 125 exhibitions every year

How much did the Millenium Point cost

The Millenium Point cost £155 million

What is the millenium point

A conference centre

What is the size and location of the Millenium Point

• 100 studio offices

• In Birmingham city center, a short walk from all 3 train stations

What is Brindley Place and where is it

A large mixed-use canal side development, in the Westside district of Birmingham

When was Brindley place developed

The area occupied was the site of factories, however by the 1970s these closed down and the buildings lay derelict for a long time

Brindley place was then developed from 1993 onwards

What is Brindley place home to

• Shops, bars, restaurants

• National Sea life center

• Royal bank of scotland

• Ikon gallery of art

• Crescent theatre

What is the Bull Ring and how much did it cost

Shopping center that cost £530 million

How many jobs and visitors does the Bull Ring have

8,000 new jobs and 35 million visitors in the first year

What does the Bull Ring famously contain?

A branch of Selfridges that cost £60 million. It won 8 awards, including destination of the year retail week awards 2004

What was the role of the city council in the placemaking?

Smithfield has £275 million of funding from the city council

What was the role of retailers in the placemaking?

• John Lewis opened a £35 million department store

• Selfridges pledged £20 million in modernising their existing store

What was the role of the government in the placemaking?

Funding by Westminster (the national government) added £21.4 million to the city’s local growth funding budget

How has the visitor economy grown?

Visitor economy grown by 11% over the past 6 years

What has been the relative success of the rebranding?

• Strong mix of developments, including major transport infrastructure, housing expansion, and high quality business accomodation

• The city’s region is second only to london for its diversity, with more under 16s than any other city region