Marketing Birmingham has added two high-profile experts in health and academia to its board.
Julie Moore, chief executive of University Hospital Birmingham, and Professor David Eastwood, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, will help raise the city’s international reputation as a centre of innovation for health, research and technology, according to Marketing Birmingham.
Healthcare, along with low-carbon R&D, transport technologies and digital media, were identified as opportunities for the city by global location specialists IBM-PLI, and are target sectors for the city’s inward investment arm Business Birmingham.
The new appointments come as Marketing Birmingham said it had taken charge of Advantage West Midlands’ research arm the West Midland Regional Observatory.
Marketing Birmingham said the transfer would help with the city’s inward investment programme and provide potential investors with the information they need to consider the region as an investment location.
New board member Professor Eastwood said the university had an important role in generating knowledge that could benefit the city as a whole.
“We operate in an environment where the city and the university need to promote themselves internationally and to establish global partnerships,” he said.
“I look forward to working with Business Birmingham in developing international activity and building Birmingham’s reputation as a leading destination for investment in new ideas and technologies.”
Julie Moore added: “Birmingham has the ideal infrastructure to deliver academic, business and clinical excellence that will not only improve quality outcomes for patients, but will also help attract investors and drive economic growth and job creation in the city and wider region.”
