Living And Working In Birmingham

Birmingham is situated in the West Midlands and is a major city. It is the second largest city within the UK following on from London. It has a population of over a million residents and is affectionately known as Brum or the Black Country due to the thick smoke that historically came from the ironworks and coal seams, with the people from the city often called ‘Brummies’.

Birmingham has centuries of interesting history although it wasn't granted city status until 1889.. In medieval times it was known for its wool trade, then metal work and leather goods and remained a relatively small market town. By the 18th century, it was flourishing with industry and was fast becoming one of the country's biggest and more important regions. By the 19th century, metal was still big business as was glass, bicycles, train carriage manufacture and coal, then at the end of the century, the cocoa and chocolate industry was introduced at Bourneville.

With a decline in the more traditional manufacturing, Birmingham started to embrace modernisation and now key industries include health care, finance, retail, professional, public sector including education, advanced manufacturing and engineering, technology and scientific. The recent Commonwealth Games 2022 were hosted by Birmingham which caused ripples of excitement throughout the city. Earlier this year, it was predicted that Birmingham would see its economy grow by a staggering one billion pounds by the end of next year and placed it seventh out of the the best performing cities within the UK for its output. The city is also predicted to enhance its employment rate  by creating thousands more jobs.

Birmingham has a strong identity with a history steeped in innovation and resilience and this is evident when you meet the strong willed and proud locals.

Birmingham is a little over one hundred miles from London but has the advantage of its own airport, the aptly named Birmingham Airport as well as a large main rail station, Birmingham New Street Station with several other smaller train stations nearby.

Peaky Blinders was filmed here in the fascinating Black Country Living Museum which is open to visitors. Visit Cadbury World to see the world famous chocolate being made in the factory then stroll around the quintessential chocolate box village of Bourneville.  Explore Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery or delve into the history of the people that once lived and worked here at the carefully restored Birmingham Back to Backs. As there is so much to see and do ~ far too much to list ~ a good idea would be to book one of the many guided tours that are readily available.

A multicultural and diverse city with a great variety of experiences which include shopping, fine dining, theatre and music, there is also an interesting network of canals which is one of the most intricate in the world. Many quiet and picturesque villages surround the area and Birmingham itself  has more than 8000 award winning acres of green spaces and parks which is more than any other city in Europe. Birmingham has also made excellent progress towards cleaner air within the city with its Clean Air Zone which is in operation twenty four hours a day.

Being easy to commute to, Birmingham is proving itself to be a popular and highly desirable place to live with house prices predicted to continue rising over the next five years yet the price for an average property is substantially cheaper than London.

Are you looking for a Career in Birmingham? You are invited to attend our Birmingham Careers Fair held in the Jurys Inn on Friday 7th October, between the times of 10:00am-2pm. Don't miss out and secure your ticket today!