Birmingham's Tech and Life Sciences Sectors Surge as City Emerges as Leading Innovation Business Hub

• Birmingham continues to strengthen its status as a leading UK tech destination and emerging life science hub, with significant growth reflected in the arrival of 20 new tech and innovation-led businesses and the expansion of existing operations across key city centre locations this year.

• A £50m investment by Bruntwood SciTech in Birmingham workspaces this year has helped drive the city’s growth.

• Birmingham’s rapidly expanding tech sector is set for accelerated growth in 2025, fueled by its reputation as the UK’s startup capital and strengthened by an extensive network of support programmes.
  

Birmingham’s ambition to become the leading tech hub outside of London has been handed a boost in 2024, with a wave of high-growth businesses announcing new office openings and expansions at its innovation hubs. The surge of activity highlights the city’s appeal as a national magnet for tech startups and established firms, capitalising on its unique position as the UK’s second-largest city for digital innovation.

Home to over 2,000 tech startups and more than 6,000 tech businesses, Birmingham’s strength in subsectors such as fintech, digital marketing, medtech and gaming have created a thriving environment for innovation and contribute to a robust infrastructure, attracting innovation-led businesses eager to co-locate and collaborate.

Recent government reports have recognised the West Midlands’ digital sector as the fastest growing in the UK for both 2021 and 2022. In 2023, Birmingham startups secured unprecedented venture capital investment, with funding levels more than doubling on the previous year, highlighted by a notable £500 million 'megaround.'1 This momentum has carried into 2024, reflected in the rapid growth of its tech community and the increasing demand for flexible, innovation-focused workspaces.

The role of infrastructure in sustaining Birmingham’s growth

Bruntwood SciTech, the UK’s largest property provider dedicated to the growth of the innovation economy, has invested £50m into the Birmingham region in the past 12 months, helping to bolster a fertile ground for innovation-focused startups, scale-ups and multinational firms to collaborate in a like-minded community.

Over the past year, Bruntwood SciTech - a joint venture between Bruntwood, Legal & General and Greater Manchester Pension Fund - has welcomed 20 new life science, tech and innovation-led businesses and supported the growth of five more at key hubs of innovation in Birmingham city centre, including Centre City adjacent to New Street Station, Cornerblock in heart of the Colmore Business District, Cornwall Buildings, Mclaren adjacent to the future HS2 station terminus, and Innovation Birmingham - including at the city’s newest digital technology hub, Enterprise Wharf. These strategic hubs provide high quality workspace, access to Bruntwood SciTech’s city-wide customer community of over 70 innovation-led businesses, and large network of investors, universities and research institutions, and specialist support advisors and services that help position Birmingham as a leader in tech.

Many are also drawn in by the appeal of the West Midlands Investment Zone (IZ), a key driver of this transformation. Innovation Birmingham, located within the government-funded IZ, serves as one of the region’s largest launchpads for visionary businesses and is the Midlands’ largest digital technology campus. Its close proximity to Aston University and Birmingham City University creates valuable opportunities for collaboration, enabling businesses to tap into the city’s talent, wealth of expertise and ideas. With businesses gaining direct access to a pipeline of 132,000 students in the West Midlands, studying critical subjects like computer science, engineering, and digital health, Innovation Birmingham is becoming a breeding ground for transformative ideas and growth.

The growth of Birmingham’s tech sector has also accelerated the convergence between technology and life sciences, leading to significant advancements in medtech. The West Midlands contributes 8% of the UK’s total medtech turnover, bolstered by strong collaborations between institutions like the University of Birmingham and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. This dynamic ecosystem, alongside the nearby Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) - which will be the Midlands’ first dedicated life science campus for healthcare innovation, home to the likes of the University of Birmingham’s Precision Health Technology Accelerator (PHTA) - fosters groundbreaking developments in medical technologies, positioning the region as a hub for innovation.

Several pioneering and sector-disrupting businesses this year made the move to Birmingham to leverage their access to the city’s scaling tech-innovation ecosystem. New arrivals who have located to Bruntwood SciTech’s city centre innovation hubs and campuses include Bryt Energy, the leading renewable energy provider choosing Cornerblock for its strong sustainability credentials and the building's workspace offering aligning with their growth ambitions. The digital apprenticeship training platform Apprentify has also expanded its presence in Birmingham at Innovation Birmingham to support its growth and further embed itself within the campus’ united tech community of entrepreneurs, scale ups and innovators seeking tech advancements and digital transformations. Meanwhile, businesses such as Redstor and M&A SME specialists MarktLink have also chosen to expand within Innovation Birmingham and Cornwall Buildings respectively, needing flexible workspace to support their growth plans.

Major investments, such as the £4.5 million redevelopment of Centre City anticipated to complete in January 2025, exemplifies Birmingham’s commitment to strengthening its infrastructure and support for its innovation ecosystem. This landmark building on the city’s skyline will feature state-of-the-art workspaces, collaborative lounges and wellbeing basement facilities accessible to all businesses within Bruntwood SciTech’s community, enhancing connectivity across the city’s key innovation zones.

The ongoing upgrades across the city also enhance the interconnectedness between Bruntwood SciTech’s workspaces, including Mclaren - announced last month to have a multi-million pound refurb to provide best in class space and facilities for innovation-led businesses, Cornerblock, Cornwall Buildings and Innovation Birmingham, creating a seamless ecosystem for innovative businesses of all sizes to flexibly move in between, gain exposure and work amongst multinational companies. These transformations not only provide businesses with modern, flexible environments but also help bridge the city’s innovation landscape, supporting the ongoing expansion of Birmingham’s tech sector.

The city’s extensive business support network also plays a crucial role in nurturing early-stage companies. Bruntwood SciTech’s partnership with regional entities such as the West Midlands Growth Company and the University of Birmingham to deliver tailored accelerator programmes at Innovation Birmingham, further strengthens Birmingham’s reputation for supporting startups. These initiatives not only provide emerging businesses with the resources they need to scale but also create a thriving ecosystem where ideas can flourish, and businesses can connect with regional investors, mentors, and peers.

With further planned investment into Birmingham office space, Bruntwood SciTech is enhancing its offering to meet rising demand, providing businesses access to its national network of over 1,100 companies and business support across Manchester, Cheshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge and most recently London.

Rob Valentine, regional director for Bruntwood SciTech in Birmingham, said: “The recent influx of disruptive and innovative businesses into Birmingham is testament to the strength of the city’s talent, infrastructure and business support proposition. Sustained growth in the levels of investment in innovation is feeding a real boom for the city’s most ambitious business leaders, and in turn, is instilling a level of confidence that’s attracting more disruptors to the city.

“What is important is that we continue to nurture this growth and not take it for granted. By creating supportive workspaces and nurturing partnerships, Bruntwood SciTech aims to cultivate an environment where startups and established firms can collaborate, innovate and ultimately drive economic growth for the region.

“Our recent workspace and amenities upgrades and the addition of 20 new businesses into our community not only highlight Birmingham’s appeal as a thriving hub for tech and innovation, but also reinforces our belief in the city’s potential to lead in the digital economy.”

News of new arrivals and expansions come a year after Bruntwood SciTech welcomed the UK’s largest local government pension fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) into the joint venture alongside existing partners, Bruntwood and Legal & General. As part of the deal, Bruntwood SciTech committed £500 million investment to support long-term, patient capital playing a crucial role in the growth of the domestic innovation sector.

Ian Brothwell, managing director at Bryt Energy, said: “At Bryt Energy, we have always believed that acting sustainably is quite simply the right thing to do. That’s why we’re delighted that our move to Cornerblock will provide the next chapter of our story, with a modern and flexible working environment that aligns with our own commitment to sustainability and employee wellbeing. Without our incredible team, we wouldn’t be able to deliver on our purpose, and as we continue to grow, this space will help us towards our sustainability goals, whilst supporting our talented team as we help British businesses towards theirs.”

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