For many Birmingham will always be the second city. Its recent trajectory will attempt to put itself on par with the England's capital London.
The New Financial Epicentre?
A number of banks most recently HSBC has decided to move its headquarters from London’s canary wharf to Birmingham. This move alone will create thousands of new jobs increasing the economy in the city.
HSBC will be leaving the expensive London lifestyle cutting huge costs while reinvesting that money into a state of the art building that will be located in Centenary Square.
Birmingham is displaying a growing economy at a fast pace with a tonne of historical buildings and a great business environment.
HS2
Long mounted plans that have finally broken ground is the high-speed train. The new train service will become the backbone of transportation within the Midlands. It will cut travel time between London and Birmingham from 1hr 21mins to a speedy 49mins.
The fully completed HS2 phases will service over 25 stations connecting nearly 30 million people this being half of the UK's current population. Phase 1 is aiming for completion by 2026 and phase 2 which will connect Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester a 2032 completion date.
Commonwealth Games
In December 2017 Birmingham was announced as the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth games. 73 nations will descend upon the city in the summer of 2022 competing in a variety of sports. In order for the all events to be viable a success a number of venues will undergo numerous renovations including the centerpiece for the games Alexander stadium based in Perry Bar.
The stadiums capacity will increase from 7,000 to 50,000 with 25,000 seats remaining permanently. A warm up track is also being built adjacent to the main stadium. The high-performance centre will undergo a complete revamp leaving a lasting legacy for Birmingham similar to the effect the Olympics did for London after 2012.
The local economy will also see a huge boost as 4,000 jobs will be created leading up to the commonwealth games. £750million is also expected additional revenue.
