Education Business

Birmingham has successfully positioned itself as a global destination for both business and leisure visitors, and has developed a sizable visitor economy over the last 25 years. Visitor numbers increased from 29 million in 2005 to 32.2 million in 2008, contributing £4.6 billion into the local economy, an 11 per cent increase over the period.
    
While the leisure economy is improving, due in part to a regenerated city-centre, eclectic cultural offering and a larger share of the weekend city-break market, the sector is still heavily dependent on the business visitor. With 27,000 hotel bed spaces, the largest range of exhibition and conference facilities in the UK and its central location, it’s not an accident that the city remains a market leader in this sector.
    
The city is one of Europe’s busiest meeting points and is home to a vast number of conference and meetings venues. These range from purpose-built, internationally renowned facilities, to academic venues and lesser known unusual settings, making Birmingham an ideal location to do business.
    
Ian Taylor, commercial director at Marketing Birmingham, says: “Marketing Birmingham aims to position the city and region as the place to hold events, both UK and globally. This is why we launched a new marketing campaign for the city – Meet Birmingham. The overall aim is to position Birmingham as a leading global event city, knowledge capital and an international city of choice that delivers a world-class visitor experience.”
    
The campaign’s website – www.meetbirmingham.com – showcases the services of Birmingham Convention Bureau which provides a vital resource for event organisers, with information to help find the right venues, accommodation, out of hours activities, and travel information.

Events
Over the past year, Birmingham’s reputation as an events city has reached new heights with the success of major conferences to the city. Notable examples are the Conservative Party Conference and Rotary International Convention, which brought economic impacts to the city of £28 and £24 million respectively.

The Centenary Rotary International Convention was the biggest of its kind to be held in the UK for two decades, and attracted some 20,000 delegates and support staff to the city. It took place in June 2009 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), with concerts, markets and other events held around the city and surrounding region. This event had a major impact on the city and wider region – Birmingham’s city centre hotels enjoyed a massive boost in occupancy levels and income with occupancy rising to 71 per cent during June (compared with 64 per cent in the previous month).
    
The city has also now established itself as part of the major political party conference circuit. The Conservative Party will return in 2010 and the Liberal Democrat Party will stage its spring conference in 2010 and its annual convention here in 2011.
    
Birmingham was named in October 2009 as the best performing European city in which to do business, having risen more places in Cushman & Wakefield’s influential European Cities Monitor than any of its competitors. It is now second only to London in the UK for business. Birmingham now occupies the 14th spot amongst a total of 34 across Europe, and outperforms all other UK cities in this year’s report.

New openings & developments
Aston Villa has completed the next stage of its redevelopment – upgrading the Holte Suite. Unveiled for the 2009/10 season, the Holte Suite has been brought up to date with impressive state of the art facilities, contemporary design and the versatility to accommodate corporate and private events for up to 800 guests.
    
Fans of Birmingham’s other football team can experience a new and improved venue when they visit Birmingham City this season. The executive areas at St Andrew’s stadium have been transformed with The Boardroom Club, Wiseman Suite and Captains Club boasting newly refurbished facilities with re-positioned bar areas, new décor, flooring and furniture.
    
Following a £35 million renovation the Town Hall’s civic status has been fittingly restored as the oldest purpose built venue in Europe, celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2009. It can hold up to 900 guests without catering or 500 guests with catering. Partner venue Symphony Hall is considered to be the UK’s finest concert hall and has now opened its doors to private events for the first time in its 20 year history. It can be hired for conferencing events of up to 2,200 delegates and both venues share a dedicated team of in-house staff to assist with arrangements.
    
Baskerville House, in Centenary Square, provides two floors of conference and serviced office space and is one of the largest commercial serviced office environments outside of London. Two brand new atria have been created at the heart of the building providing a great sense of space and light to the cafe area situated on the second floor.
    
Birmingham Hippodrome, which stages some of the biggest shows outside the West End, has opened up its Stageside Bar Bistro as meeting and event space for daytime or evening private hire. Tucked away on Thorp Street adjacent to Birmingham Hippodrome Stage door, Stageside is a hidden gem with bare brick walls and leather sofas, offering a relaxing atmosphere and the perfect place to spot the stars.

For more information
Web: www.meetbirmingham.com