Banks vie for foothold in Birmingham
Private banks are flocking to pick up business in Birmingham, as London becomes overcrowded and the Midlands looks increasingly attractive and affordable.
The competition for talented bankers to service the region is fierce – last week UBS recruited a team of eight advisers from PricewaterhouseCoopers to furnish its Birmingham wealth office. Phillip Wood, the most senior hire, will lead the team in Birmingham, which has risen to 16.
Barclays announced in July plans to move its entire Midlands retail office, about 1,000 staff, into four floors of a new building in central Birmingham. The move will coincide with a wealth push. In June, Barclays Wealth hired senior banker Mark Embley from UBS to grow its presence in Birmingham.
Andrew Houston, regional head for the Midlands and the North at Barclays Wealth, said Birmingham was a good location for the bank.
He said: “Barclays Wealth has been working with clients in the thriving Birmingham region and across the UK for many years. There is a growing demand for an integrated wealth management service in the West Midlands as it continues to flourish as a centre of business excellence. The growth in the region means there is an increasing number of wealthy clients who require private banking and wealth management.”
Other private banks are hot on their heels: Kleinwort Benson, Coutts, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, PwC and Allied Irish Bank all have Birmingham operations. Goldman Sachs moved there two years ago and Birmingham remains its only regional presence.
In April, Brown Shipley unveiled plans to open a Birmingham office. In May, Credit Suisse announced its local launch.
Birmingham used to be known as “the workshop of the world”. This was overtaken after Second World War by Germany and Japan and, more recently, China, but several local families held on to the wealth generated in prior years.
Precision engineering and financial services are continuing to generate wealth. A spokesman for Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said: “Our Lord Mayor Randal has been actively seeking to change its reputation from industrial to financial for several years now, and the move is paying dividends.
"London has become so expensive, many wealthy clients are migrating into the regions to do business, and banks are following.”
Business developments and luxury residences are being built to cater for high net worth individuals and private banks. There is a group of luxury residential developments near the canal.
Birmingham, as the UK’s largest city, has a population of a million sprawled over a wide area. It is within occasional commuting distance to London.
The city has also has an airport extension, which will cater for more long-haul flights to the US, the Middle East and Asia. Birmingham International Airport, based near Sollihul, plans to extend its runway by 500 metres.
The Chamber of Commerce spokesman said: “This will establish Birmingham on the global map of the world’s financial centres.”
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