Editor’s View

Editor’s View

By John Lamb

Optimism returns to the city

What better news could our readers have than our popular “Where do you fancy..?” eating out feature is back (see page 15)?

We suspended it in the dark days at the beginning of the lockdowns but now we are confident that things can only get better. In fact, the problem now lies in securing a table –excellent news for those pubs and restaurants back in demand but not for we would-be diners.

However, the return of “Where do you fancy..?” is far from the best news in town as we emerge blinking into the post-Covid atmosphere. In this edition, Chamberlink has devoted several pages as a follow-up to the Chamber’s successful “Keep Business Moving” campaign with many stories and features on how we are fighting back.

Among them is the fantastic news that the merchant bankers Goldman Sachs Group intends to open a new office in Birmingham later this year. Among the reasons for the move, the firm says, is: “…the city’s proximity to our London office will allow for easy travel between UK offices for our people to stay closely connected with other divisions and clients”.

And, of course, that advantage will become even more meaningful when HS2 is running.

The announcement of the group’s intentions has rightly been met with universal acclaim, hailing it as a demonstration on confidence in the future of the city. It has also added to the growing sense that optimism is picking up to the point where we might recapture the high we were on pre-pandemic when everything seemed to be going so swimmingly for Greater Birmingham.

Engineering will be Goldman Sach’s first division in Birmingham with a mix of hiring and employee transfers. “Similar to other strategic locations, multiple areas of the firm will also leverage this opportunity and we expect to have a headcount of several hundred across a number of divisions over time,” the announcement added.

When the normally London-centric ‘Financial Times’ devotes its page three to the news, you know that this is indeed a major development.

“Birmingham remakes itself as an alternative to London,” it trumpeted, and added: “Goldman decision to open an office confirms second city’s rise as a finance and tech hub”.

The New York-based group is a big global player, providing a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals.

Founded in 1869, the firm maintains offices in all major financial centres around the world. And Birmingham can be proud that it is now among those “major financial centres,” a move initiated a few years ago when HSBC and Deutsche Bank set up headquarters here.

The group says its Birmingham office is “an exciting opportunity to build on the successful expansion of other strategic locations and technology hubs in Europe in recent years, including Warsaw and Stockholm”.

And Richard Gnodde, chief executive officer for Goldman Sachs International, said: “Establishing a new office in Birmingham will diversify our UK footprint and give us access to a broad and deep talent pool in the local area. We see tremendous opportunity to enhance our UK presence and continue delivering for our global clients.”

What a refreshing change it is to report new and exciting opportunities for the city region, which are reflected in this edition of Chamberlink as we emerge from one of the worst crises since World War II and the recession.