BCO British Council for Offices Annual Conference Birmingham 2024: BIRMINGHAM IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS Part 3.

Following on from a fantastic 3 days at UKREiiF, I had to hot foot it back to Birmingham to attend the BCO Annual Conference in our great city.

As an authentic 'Brummie' and the City Council's Assistant Director for Development I was asked to showcase Digbeth alongside colleagues from 'Howells'.

The Digbeth area of Birmingham is one of Birmingham’s oldest neighbourhoods, known for its diverse built heritage, social and industrial history.

A creative and industrious place that is now on the cusp of regeneration.

The redevelopment of Digbeth is the latest signal of an exciting process of city-wide regeneration, building on the Commonwealth Games and the arrival of HS2 in a ‘golden period’ for Birmingham, which will see it transformed into the green, healthy, walkable city set out in Birmingham City Council’s bold and ambitious ‘Our Future City Plan: Central Birmingham 2040’ framework document.

The presentations and guided walking tours, led by myself and Howells, explored this emerging cultural district, unique historic canal network, waterfront and warehouse buildings.

Taking in some of the key development areas including the renowned Custard Factory, The Bond, River Rea Urban Quarter and Smithfield.

It was also an opportunity to explore the wider Typhoo Wharf Masterplan which includes the re-imagining of the historic Typhoo Factory which is currently being transformed into a world-class workplace and the new home of BBC Birmingham.

It was a privilege to showcase our great city and to meet built environment professionals outside of Birmingham.

I feel that they left Birmingham wanting more having heard my message that Birmingham is open for business - and the many factors that have attracted record levels of investment in recent years are the very reasons why we will ride out the current storm.

We will continue to work collaboratively with you to deliver homes, jobs and opportunities for the people and communities of our great city.

Birmingham will only realise it's true potential if we work together - the council is determined to play its part.

Over the years, our city has reinvented itself many times over, and each reinvention has relied on the public and private sectors working in harmony to deliver a shared vision.

Despite our current challenges, Birmingham is a city on the up.