The West Midlands is the only place in the UK with an export surplus with China
Two of Britain’s big four banks were founded in Birmingham – Lloyds in 1765 and Midland in 1836
Employment in motion picture, video and television programme related activities has increased by more than 150 per cent since 2009 – more than any other core English city
Birmingham is the home of high-speed rail in the UK, with the HS2 headquarters coming to the city and the HS2 College also part-based here
There are 10,000 manufacturing SMEs in the West Midlands
Greater Birmingham has the largest regional financial and professional services hub in the UK, employing nearly 220,000 people in over 21,000 companies, and bringing £15 billion into the region
GKN makes driveshafts for almost half of the cars being made in the world
Birmingham is home to the largest local law society in the UK representing over 4,000 individuals in 130 practices
The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and International Convention Centre (ICC) host more than 200,000 conferences and 320 exhibitions every year
Electro-plating was invented in Birmingham by John Wright in 1840
More than a quarter of the UK’s computer games workforce is based in Greater Birmingham
The first of the famous Odeon chain of cinemas first opened in Perry Barr, Birmingham in 1930
There are six universities and 18 further education institutions located in the region
The Bullring shopping centre draws in more than 40 million customers a year
Birmingham is the youngest city in Europe, with under 25s accounting for nearly 40 per cent of its population.
There are more than 500 medical technology companies, more than any other UK region, and the city is the largest clinical trials base in Europe outside Oxford
Something like 40 per cent of the UK’s jewellery is produced in the city’s Jewellery Quarter
More than 34,000 people are employed in Birmingham’s digital media sector
The pneumatic tyre was invented in Birmingham by John Dunlop in 1888
Bingley Hall, the world’s first exhibition hall, opened in 1850 on the site now occupied by The ICC
