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Birmingham Sectoral Review 2000

The Birmingham Sectoral Review 2000 is the second in a trinity of publications published by the Birmingham Economic Information Centre to mark the new millennium. It complements the Birmingham Economic Review 2000 by examining in greater depth the City's key strategic sectors. The Review is divided into three sections:

• Section One presents an overview of the changing industrial structure of Birmingham's economy, highlighting the relative decline of manufacturing and the growth of services.
• Section Two provides in-depth profiles of 8 major sectors and identifies the key drivers of change and future growth prospects to 2010.
• Section Three draws together some policy implications for sectoral and particularly cluster development.

Some Key Findings:

• The proportion of the city's employment base accounted for by Manufacturing has fallen from 44% in 1978 to 19% in 2000. However, manufacturing accounts for nearly 26% of the city's economic output. Moreover, the BEIC's Forecasting Model reveals that changes in manufacturing output have a greater leverage on the overall local economy than any other sector.
• Birmingham is the Region's principal Finance and Business Services Centre accounting for almost 30% of regional output in these services. The sector in Birmingham employs over 100,000 people with an annual output of £2.5 bn.
• Employment of Birmingham residents in the Construction industry has grown steadily since the end of the 1990-92 recession, from 21,600 in May 1992 to reach a peak of 26,900 in early 1998.
• Birmingham is a Retail centre of growing importance with one of Europe's largest city centre retail regeneration projects, incorporating over 250,000sq m of modern retail floorspace.
• Birmingham and the West Midlands are strategically placed for the purposes of Distribution, with virtually all markets in England accessible by road haulage within 4 hours. To the East of Birmingham is the 'Golden Triangle' of distribution, which is wedged between the M1, M6 and M42/A42.
• The Hospitality sector accounts for 5% of total employment and 3% of local GDP. The sector involves all forms of short stay accommodation, restaurants, bars and canteens and catering. It is a very fragmented sector made up mostly of SMEs and its customer base is very wide, meeting the needs not only of local residents but also of the burgeoning tourism industry.
• Transportation issues are very high on the economic and business agenda in Birmingham and there is a strategic need for a mass transportation rail system commensurate with the best in Europe.
• Trends in Telecommunications services differ between the two main markets. Penetration of Fixed Lines in the residential market is very high, although there is potential for growth in the business sector, driven by telephone selling and new lines for non-voice telephony - such as fax and data transfer. Cellular Services have been a major growth area in the latter half of the 1990s and further growth will follow from the new generation of mobile phones.
• Gas, Electricity and Water are undergoing major structural and commercial change following privatisation. Companies in this broad sector account for just under 2% to Birmingham's total GDP and less than 1% of total employment , but their economic significance is far greater, due to their enabling role in all sectors.
• As a City of a million people and as the regional capital, Birmingham has a concentration of Government and Other Services within its administrative boundary, including a significant amount of headquarters activity.

This publication is the second in a trinity of publications to mark the millennium, the other publications being the Birmingham Economic Review 2000 and Birmingham Labour Market Assessment 2000.