I took part today in a debate today, 'Birmingham - second city or second best', organised by Professor Diane Kemp, Broadcast Journalism Education, Birmingham City University.
I was delighted to join a panel with - Mark Rogers, 10 days into his job as Chief Executive, Birmingham City Council; Pauline Geoghegan well known for her blog, Politics in Brum, and colleague Dave Harte, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications.
These are the words I meant to use...
Birmingham is neither second city nor second class.
Birmingham and its hinterland, the Midlands, is first as a city of designers and makers.
Not just in England, not just in the United Kingdom, but in the world.
If reputation is the shadow of substance I would like to look beyond the shadow to the substance.
I base my case on three points -
Firstly, the industrial revolution was born here. Not Manchester. We have the pedigree.
Secondly, if we were once a city of a thousand trades, that launched a thousand brands, we are today a neo industrial powerhouse, the designer-makers of tomorrow.
Thirdly, the genius of Birmingham is in our inventiveness and in our people being able to 'think outside the box'. Our ability to not only have great dreams, but to make them work.
And I have a "Platonic fourth" to bring Symmetry and Beauty which I'll come to later!
Abraham Darby set the whole industrial revolution ball rolling by smelting iron ore with coke. What he did was classic economics, even today. In 1707 he was granted a patent to design and manufacture cast iron cooking pots. He was able to substitute these for cheap imports and sell them at home and around the world.
If Abraham Darby fuelled the industrial revolution, then James Watt powered it by creating the steam engine.
We can of course play the game of claiming great inventions.
Manchester can quibble over Arkwright and the Spinning Jenny but try getting those to work without a bit of power....Let's not get bogged down in the narcissism of small differences. We have still greater claims to make.
City of a thousand trades. Workshop of the world. Claims that miss the point because it was really 'City of Thousands of Brands'.
Today we are seeing the 'Midlands Manufacturing Revival' powered by the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, AGA Rangemaster, JCB, Rolls Royce, Triumph Motor Cycles, Bentley, British Small Arms, Brandauer: Great brands bought and owned by people around the world.
We can think outside the box and make things work. Take the Olympic Torch, the international symbol of 2012.
Whilst London designers dreamt up the symbolism of the Olympic Torch...they forgot about the laws of physics.
Midlands' manufacturers Premier Group found a way around this. They made it possible; they made it a reality.
So what's the the Platonic fourth?
Well, I think it's something we miss completely. And we shouldn't. As the home of Art & Design in Birmingham we should be shouting this from the rafters.
Why are the English so often featured in films? Because they are obsessed with money and power. And what do they drive? Jaguars, Aston Martins, Minis, MGs.
We invented the English Design ethic, combining flair with power and status. Something desired around the world, English cool.
What other city can boast this hand - London? I think not.
Too busy selling products described by Lord Turner as ' socially useless' and fleecing the rest of us on the back of it!
Time to stand up and be counted.
Stand up for Birmingham and join in 'Birmingham Made Me' as we launch our 2014 campaign.
We hold our Birmingham Made Me Jobs Fair, 6-9 May, Millennium Point , making the links between employers and emerging talent for all young people between 16-24 years and working with partners including Birmingham City Council, businesses, universities and FE Colleges.
From 27-31 October we hold our Birmingham Made Me Design Expo as a Festival of Ideas, at Millennium Point, highlighting and making connections between our supply chains. Uncovering the ofen overlooked excellence in transport and auto, renewables, healthcare, consumer, education, digital and media.
We're campaigning for a reputation that removes the 'shadow' and shouts about the 'substance'.
* Beverley Nielsen is Director Employer Engagement, Birmingham City University
