Birmingham is pushing the government to hand it the same devolution powers already promised to Manchester, as the West Midlands tries to turn itself into a powerhouse for defence, health, technology, sport and entertainment.
Metro mayors are due to be allowed to keep a bigger share of business rates and, for the first time, income tax to decide how the money is spent. A study by Harvard and King's College London found that £70billion would be added to annual output if Birmingham and other cities outside London got the same devolution benefits as their European counterparts.
West Midlands mayor Richard Parker says the prize on offer is 'phenomenal' but that Britain's second city needs to promote itself better to claim it. Images of litter-strewn streets have not helped: a bin workers' strike, now in its 18th month, was caused by public service cuts made to plug an alleged £600million hole in the local authority pension fund.
Al Carns, Labour MP for Selly Oak, says Birmingham needs to make more noise. "Humility has been our problem," he said. "We need to puff ourselves up a bit."
Financial giants and a young workforce
From the windows of Birmingham town hall, in the Colmore business district, the towers occupied by Goldman Sachs and HSBC are visible. Jaguar Land Rover, based down the road in Solihull, is another major local employer.
Parker is trying to persuade more strategically important firms that "it's a lot cheaper to do business here" than in London. "We have a young population, a third are under 25," he said. "We are a petri dish of talent with our 12 universities."
Among those already investing in the city is US billionaire Tom Wagner, owner of Birmingham City football club. Wagner is behind the £4billion Sports Quarter development on a brownfield site in the east of the city, which will include a stadium, described as a "globally recognised colosseum," also intended to host concerts. Wagner has said Parker and the West Midlands Growth Company "made it easy for him" to invest. Neil Rami, the Growth Company's boss, says the key to attracting inward investment is "providing the softest landing."
Peaky Blinders and a delayed rail link
Another project within the wider £11billion regeneration zone is Digbeth Studios, a busy production hub for film and TV founded by Steven Knight, creator of the hit series Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy and Sophie Rundle. The show follows the Brummy Shelby crime gang of the 1920s, and its sequel will be shot at the complex.
Gang leader Thomas Shelby's line that "when you plan something well, there's no need to rush" fits the city's rail fortunes. Unlike Manchester, Birmingham is still due to get the delayed HS2 high-speed rail link from London, though the line will not be running before 2036 at the earliest.
Rivalling the Golden Triangle
Health and life sciences is another sector marked for growth, with Birmingham's five NHS trust hospitals and its engineering heritage. The city presents itself as the natural choice for pharmaceutical companies outside the "Golden Triangle" research cluster of London, Oxford and Cambridge.
"Our labour costs are 60 per cent of those in the Golden Triangle, and our housing costs are 40 per cent lower," Rami said. The Birmingham University-run Health Innovation Campus in Edgbaston, which opened last year, is central to that pitch, offering laboratory space for what vice-chancellor Adam Tickell calls "research with a purpose."
Tickell points to the university's practical tradition, which he says makes job-seeking easier for its graduates. Ninety languages are spoken in the city, and many graduates stay on after finishing their degrees.
That fits with Andy Burnham's proposal to strengthen education's vocational role in tackling the number of young people not in employment, education or training. The Prime Minister has referred to his devolution drive as "Manchesterism," but if it is to succeed, cities such as Birmingham argue they cannot be left behind.
