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PRIVACY
Economic Development

City looks to pinch high tech jobs from London

Marketing Birmingham is targeting more high tech jobs in the capital to move to the city after recent successes with the likes of Asos and Deutsche Bank

The view across Birmingham from the Library of Birmingham

London is in the crosshairs of inward investment chiefs in Birmingham as the city makes a play to attract digital roles out of the capital.

Marketing Birmingham is targeting more high tech jobs in the capital to move to the city after recent successes with the likes of Asos and Deutsche Bank.

This comes as research from YouGov shows London is too crowded and expensive for emerging technology firms to survive and over half say they are struggling to stay in business.

In the past year, property rents in London’s Shoreditch tech heartland have soared by 46 per cent and researchers say soaring costs and a struggle to hold onto affordable office space is hampering growth.

Marketing Birmingham plans to capitalise with a guerilla campaign in Shoreditch highlighting the benefits of a move to the second city.

Chief executive Neil Rami told the Post: “The fact that the Government has made so much of Tech City is laudable from a national positioning perspective, but the reality is that’s not a particularly strong offer to grow and develop a business.
“If the aspiration is to get the next Google or Microsoft from Tech City, then the research shows it is going to be pretty difficult to get a scalable business from there.

“They can grow more quickly here – Asos is an example of that. They have been able to recruit people with specialist skills, including language skills, very quickly.”

The digital sector is a major focus for the city’s growth plans.