As a hub for professional services, Birmingham’s financial and professional and technology sector employs 53,000 people in over 4,400 companies. It is home to the headquarters and operating hubs of major banks such as HSBC UK, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. With a young and diverse population and 12 universities producing 70,000 graduates across business, finance, law and STEM annually, Birmingham is an attractive talent pool for many companies. Located within the wider West Midlands region, Birmingham offers opportunities for Singapore companies to take advantage of lower living and business costs, but a strong talent pool with international experience.
London is the capital of England and the hosts the largest population in the country, with 8.8 million residents. It is a metropolitan city with world-class facilities and institutions. There are 40 universities and hundreds of international corporate headquarters located in London, attracting a large global talent pool and investments into this city.
The city has established itself as a major financial hub – being home to one of the most important stock exchanges worldwide and Bank of England, the second oldest bank in the world. It also ranks among the best cities in the world for transport and connectivity, boasting five airports and direct railway connections to major cities in the region.
Housing more unicorns than any other European cities, London is the leading startup hub in Europe and third largest tech hub in the world.
It has the third largest airport in the UK and is ranked seventh globally for connectivity. Manchester is known as one of the UK’s main university towns, home to three major universities and the biggest single-site university campus in the UK with a student population of over 100,000. The city has also attracted global companies such as BBC, ITV, and Ericsson to set up their offices in Media City.
With the UK government’s announcement of setting up eight Freeport zones where investors can enjoy exemptions from custom duties and other taxes when importing raw materials and components for export-oriented manufacturing, Teesside was announced to be the first to be established. Located in North England, Teesside contains several industrial facilities, including the Teesport Freeport, Wilton International industrial park, and Teesside International Airport.
In addition to being UK’s first Freeport, Teesside is also slated to become the UK’s first de-carbonised industrial hub. There are a number of upcoming projects relating to Offshore Wind as well as Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) at Teesside that are at varying stages of implementation. If your company is part of the supply chain to the Offshore Wind or CCUS industries, or trade and logistics sectors, Teesside will be a good opportunity for landing in the UK.
Scotland has valuable business opportunities with a blend of talent, innovation, financial and renewable resources to help your business prosper, especially being a climate and green-economy hub in UK and Europe.
Investment in Scotland’s climate tech sector grew by 35% in 2020 with projections that this could be worth £123 million by 2025.
Scotland’s highly skilled workforce, competitive cost base, world-class universities and supportive business environment attracts companies to enter the market. The local government also forms strong partnership approaches with public bodies, academia and industry to attract and promote Scotland as a destination for investment.