Brand Birmingham

An identity crisis

According to the Deloitte European Hotel Industry and Investment Survey 2024, Birmingham moved up three places in the rankings to be the fifth most attractive UK city for UK regional hotel investment in 2025. The latest visitor numbers for 2023 (published in July 2024), also indicate that more people than ever visited the West Midlands, representing a 3% increase over 2022. Although these statistics indicate an improvement, they do not statistically align Birmingham with its identity as the UK’s second biggest city. Our survey also indicates that these statistical gains are either not significant enough for investors to commit capital to start construction on new hotels, or that the construction sector’s response will be delayed. In 2024, there was no recorded activity in the hotel sector across new starts, under construction or completion figures. 

Promoting the brand

However, 2024 has seen Birmingham further leverage sport to raise its global profile. As reported by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, elite sport can act as a catalyst for economic growth, and raising global brand profile can stimulate tourism and boost the visitor economy. Birmingham and the wider West Midlands continues to capitalise on the success of the Commonwealth Games and implement its sporting legacy. In 2024, the West Midlands Growth Company published its Heart of Sport Plan, which aims to elevate the profile of the region both nationally and internationally to promote its world class hosting credentials. The gameplan is in motion, and in April Birmingham played host to the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit. Over 100 leaders of international federations attended, providing a further springboard for the city and wider region on the global stage.

Continuing the sporting momentum and after a successful year of hosting key sporting events, the city was announced as the host of the Invictus Games in 2027. Leveraging sport to boost its profile is a safe bet and is helping to position the region as the ‘beating heart of sport’ in the UK. Over the last two years, Birmingham’s global ranking as a Sports City, according to Burson, rose from 34th in 2022 to 31st in 2024.

With the public sector investing in Brand Birmingham, the private sector is now investing in facilities, sporting excellence and growth. Notable headlines in 2024 include:

• Edgbaston Cricket Club submitted a planning application for the final phase of its masterplan, which will include a new stand and 4* hotel.

• Knighthead Capital’s investment into Birmingham City Football Club and its acquisition of 48 acres of land in Bordesley Green to deliver an ambitious new sports quarter and stadium (also a major FDI capital project). 

• Meanwhile, Aston Villa Football Club announced its North Grounds regeneration plans which will include a new multi-use venue and fan zone. 

Brand Birmingham is also making ground in the cultural, creative and media sectors. Championing Brand Birmingham in 2024, Birmingham City Council launched its Culture Strategy refresh. The Strategy will seek to unite sectors through culture and the arts, to enrich lives and drive economic growth. 2024 saw the first phase of Digbeth Loc Studios complete in Digbeth and director Stephen Knight commence filming of the Peaky Blinders movie. After the success of the series, Peaky Blinders (and the obligatory flat cap) is now synonymous with Birmingham, and whilst the series has helped promote Birmingham to a wide audience, the movie is set to have global reach. The power of film should not be underestimated; Visit Britain indicates that 9 in 10 potential visitors would be interested in visiting a filming location in the UK. Capitalising on this potential, Birmingham has secured its role as host to the inaugural World Screen Tourism Summit in November 2025.

A combination of sports and the arts could be compelling in promoting Brand Birmingham and attracting greater visitor numbers. The pipeline of hotel schemes looks strong on paper and there are signs of site readiness across the city, suggesting cautious optimism. There are four schemes on cleared sites with planning consent that could deliver 715 hotel rooms if construction started in 2025. This includes a 22-storey hotel at One Ratcliffe Square as part of the Paradise Circus development. However, if we are to see the sector’s cautious optimism convert to committed construction, it will need to be assured that Brand Birmingham will attract the visitor numbers needed to ensure profitability. Hotel occupancy data for the West Midlands in 2024 indicates that the region has a 72% average occupancy, which is below the UK average of 79%.  

Retail and leisure

Turning to the retail sector, whilst average footfall and vacancy rates for retail / leisure appear to have stabilised post-pandemic, the sector remains subdued, and footfall has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. In our 2024 survey, there was just over 100,000 sq. ft. of retail floorspace under construction, of which all formed part of major mixed use schemes. However, bucking this ongoing trend, 11,000 sq. ft. of targeted food and beverage floorspace for football fans has completed at Birmingham City Football Club in Central East. Also in Central East, and contributing to Digbeth’s nighttime economy offer, we could see Digbeth Boxpark start on site in 2025, which will bring forward a further c.11,000 sq. ft. of food and beverage floorspace following grant of planning permission in 2024. These schemes demonstrate that, with the right market offer in the right location, retail and leisure-led developments can still contribute to Brand Birmingham and create a destination fit for residents, visitors and workers. 

Converting cautious optimism to committed construction

In 2024, the public sector has broken new ground promoting the city on the global stage. In 2025, we expect to see Brand Birmingham gaining momentum. With sufficient momentum, and if the numbers stack up, we could see investor’s cautious optimism convert to committed construction from 2025 onwards.