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Professional and Financial Services SectorTestimonials"Birmingham has ambition, confidence, a willingness to take risks, gets things done and focuses on the future. Small wonder the city has developed so much of late and has so much potential. The degree of change that is taking place offers tremendous opportunities for both us and of course, our clients." Gordon Bon, Lead Partner, Bevan Ashford. "Birmingham's strengths in corporate banking and corporate structured finance have been decades in the making. The city's ability to service major deals is on a par with anywhere in the world. Our staff numbers in Birmingham grew by 70% in the last 12 months and we are very focused on generating business for the city and the region." Trevor Foster, Head of Royal Bank of Scotland's Corporate Finance Division. Quentin Poole, senior partner at Wragge & Co, said: it was much easier to play the team game from one cohesive centre in Birmingham and it was much cheaper - the firm is paying £23 per sq ft for office space in Birmingham against £45 per sq ft in London. "Directors of SMEs in the region are happiest doing business in a local environment and it is very pleasing to see that Birmingham has the strength in depth to service this growing requirement." Mark Hopton, KPMG Senior Partner. "We were initially attracted to Birmingham by the presence of particular clients in one of our key sectors (health) and by a desire to expand into a larger marketplace from our Eastern bases. This was four years ago. Since then we have discovered other advantages and opportunities, particularly an available well educated workforce, key clients with either national or regional HQ's here (in both the public and private sectors), low overheads and a "can do" positive approach amongst suppliers, clients, planners and workforce". Guy Hinchley, Birmingham Managing Partner, Mills & Reeve. "Birmingham has revived itself in quite an extraordinary way over the last 25 years but now wants to take this process of change, renewal and modernisation forward". The Rt Hon Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Case StudiesBevan Ashford "Birmingham has ambition, confidence, a willingness to take risks, gets things done and focuses on the future. Small wonder the city has developed so much of late and has so much potential. The degree of change that is taking place offers tremendous opportunities for both us and of course, our clients." Gordon Bon, Lead Partner. Birmingham College of Law The £7 million facility, which opened last September, will play a major role in the future of the city according to its new director of external relations John James. “The College is a major boost to the city as it proves what an important legal centre we are now and that we can compete with London,” he said. “No other College of Law in the country is so close to the centre of a major city and so close to the major law firms. Students will benefit greatly from attending and law firms and the city will benefit from it being here.” The 45,000 sq ft building in the Jewellery Quarter ’s Great Hampton Street –will host a series of full time courses as well as distance learning which will enable students who have jobs to study at weekends. The College of Law in Birmingham is proving so popular with law students that it has recruited eight more law teachers to cater for its growing numbers. They bring the total teaching staff at the College up to a full-time teaching equivalent of 25. The college opened with 300 students. In September 2001 and is set to welcome nearly 600 full time and 300 part time students for the 2003/04 academic year. Bernardette Griffin, director of Birmingham College of Law, said: “Our popularity has exceeded our expectations. But we can put our success down to the quality of our staff and pupils and the enthusiasm which they have engendered across the city. “The support given to us by the business community generally and the legal community in particular with whom we work closely has played a big part too. We are well resourced and students like the fact that we offer options for pro bono work that gives them a taste of working for real clients and a sense of doing good.” Fortis Bank As one of the largest financial institutions in Europe, Fortis Bank's core strength is delivering dedicated services through a unique cross-border network. This business structure attracts European-based companies who act internationally, but all financial management is in the hands of their local relationship manager here in Birmingham. The Birmingham team handles the financial management for a wide range of Midlands-based companies, with a focus on medium-sized businesses that operate both domestically and internationally. Based in the heart of Birmingham's business district, close to St Phillip's Square, the Fortis team works with other city-based professional service businesses. This partnership approach helps customers get access to the very best advisors. Businesses are working together to create a strong and prosperous city for further growth and investment. Matthew Porter, head of Fortis' Birmingham office says: "As a thriving city which continues to increase its presence in Europe, Birmingham is a key location for Fortis Bank. Many of our customers are increasing their levels of European and global trading and our financial skills and knowledge, together with our unique offering is best placed to help continue their success." Handelsbanken These branches provide a banking service to corporate and personal customers in their own region with all customers having a personal account manager. Account managers and branch have the authority and flexibility to manage their own customers rather than a remote and centralised head office handling matters. Jonathan Allen, branch manager, says: "Birmingham and the West Midlands is a key location of Handelsbanken and we look forward to celebrating ten years in the region next year. During the last three years we have significantly expanded our corporate and personal banking activities. "There is a large market place and we can be careful in choosing our customers." The presence of excellent legal and accounting firms in Birmingham also helps us provide a quality and cost effective solution to our customers. We have been able to recruit highly qualified and flexible staff from the region who have embraced the bank's culture." Harvey Ingram LLP "We are excited by this expansion of our motor claims practice and by the acquisition of an established team with an excellent reputation in this area," says managing partner, Chris Finlay. "We have no doubt that this development will enable us to improve and extend the service we offer to our clients." Harvey Ingram LLP emerged from the 1996 merger of two prominent Leicester law firms, Harvey Ingram and Owstons. Since then, turnover has grown to £9.1m - an increase of 25 per cent over the last three years alone. Staff numbers have also increased 10 per cent over the same period. "The fact that we have offices in central birmingham close to many of our existing clients and professional contact, will enable us to be more responsive and accessible to their needs, which can only further enhance the service we provide," says Finlay, of the College of Law. Mills & Reeve "We were initially attracted to Birmingham by the presence of particular clients in one of our key sectors (health) and by a desire to expand into a larger marketplace from our Eastern bases. This was four years ago. Since then we have discovered other advantages and opportunities, particularly an available well educated workforce, key clients with either national or regional HQ's here (in both the public and private sectors), low overheads and a "can do" positive approach amongst suppliers, clients, planners and workforce. Research carried out by the University of Birmingham predicts huge growth in the professional services sector in the city over the next five years, in response to demand. We have found we are able to help provide some of those jobs and are currently achieving year on year growth of over 50 per cent in this city." Guy Hinchley, Birmingham Managing Partner. Pinsent Masons EDP and CapMan were advised by a joint Pinsents-Magnusson Wahlin Qvist Stanbrook (MAQS) team on the acquisition of Ericsson's optoelectronics division through Northlight Optronics AB - a new company funded by management and the investor syndicate. The Ericsson division, a leading supplier of active fiberoptic components for optical communication systems, has among its key customers leading names such as Lucent, Alcatel, Cisco and Siemens. The acquisition gives Northlight access to solid technology, developed by Ericsson over 20 years, cost-efficient production and a strong list of customers. A new management team comprising individuals with extensive experience in the optoelectronics industry will lead the company. The joint Pinsents-MAQS team advising EDP and CapMan was led by Pinsents' Corporate Finance Partner Alan Farkas in the UK and Per Magnusson in Sweden, with specialist advice from Pinsents Head of IP, Stephen Chandler and Sten Gejrot in Sweden. "This deal demonstrates the value and effectiveness for our clients of our alliance with MAQS, " comments Alan Farkas. "The integrated service we offer has enabled European Digital Partners to conclude this deal with ease while working with a familiar team." Shoosmiths Since then the office has gone from strength to strength and recently moved into new premises in the prestigious Lloyds TSB development at 125 Colmore Row. During the course of the year the Birmingham office has recruited a number of top flight lawyers from leading local firms. Chairman, Andrew Tubbs, and its national head of planning, Iain Gilbey, have also moved from the Northampton office to Birmingham. "Since opening the Birmingham office in February we have experienced an overwhelming demand for our services. In response to this demand we have significantly increased the size of our team," says Kordan. "We can now offer our clients a fully comprehensive property service from our Birmingham office as well as a full service, drawing on our network of offices throughout the country." "We see Birmingham as one of the UK's major commercial centres and it is important for us to have an office here. Since opening, the office has very quickly become recognised as a major player and we are continuing to attract a great deal of interest from businesses and recruits in the local market, whilst continuing to advise clients further afield." top of page
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