Out of office? Our reply to the doom-mongers...
WITH apologies to Mark Twain, the death of the office has been greatly exaggerated.
And as if to prove our faith in the traditional office, you may have noticed we have announced the sale of Chamber of Commerce House – not because we are abandoning it, quite the opposite in fact.
Our announcement coincided with media reports about a firm leaving their city centre premises in favour of working from home in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Conversely, Mazars, the financial services giant, announced that they were moving into the £700 million Paradise development.
So it would be wrong to write off the office. Our sale of Chamber of Commerce House very much secures the Chamber’s future and continuing to have a presence on a site we have occupied for 60 years is regarded as a vital asset.
And it underlines our belief that the office is here to stay. While I can understand the temptation of quitting an expensive city centre site for the cheaper option of working from home, I believe the downside to this sort of isolation would soon become apparent.
Of course, the Covid-19 crisis has meant we have all had to find new ways of working and we have proved that it is possible to pretty much carry on as normal while working at home. Zoom meetings have become the norm.
But the interaction and camaraderie that is possible in an office environment cannot be underestimated or replaced by only talking to a screen.
So the Chamber’s future lies firmly planted in the heart of Edgbaston. The buyers, Mercia Real Estate (MRE), share our enthusiasm for the office and for the future of this area near Five Ways and the city centre.
Soon the area will be linked by Midlands Metro, offering excellent links to the heart of the city. And
MRE will be working closely with local stakeholders to identify opportunities to increase the density of the site.
For the Chamber it will mean having new, fit-for-purpose offices built as an extension on the top of the seven-storey block. Our announcement of the sale coincided with news that many international companies moving to the West Midlands have put the region top of the UK’s overseas investment chart for five years running.
According to new data from the Department for International Trade, it is now the fifth year in a row that the region has been hailed as the
UK’s leading location for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) outside of London and the South-east.
The latest figures reveal the region attracted 157 new FDI projects in 2019/20. This accounts for eight per cent of the UK’s total number secured, and is the largest share generated of all UK regions outside of London.
The biggest sources of investment in the West Midlands since 2015 have been the US, Germany, France and India. In total, 802 foreign investments have been made in the region during this time.
Global heavyweights like consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal and Microland – India’s leading digital IT transformation company – are among its most notable investors from the past five years.
Other businesses setting up shop in the city include Massachusetts (US)-based IPG Photonics, Chinese investment group Fosun International and German railway firm Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting. And, of course, we have already welcomed HSBC and Deutsche Bank.
It’s encouraging to hear that even at this time of global uncertainty, the region has performed strongly in attracting overseas investment.
And this is doubly pleasing when we’re about to benefit from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 2021 Coventry City of Culture, the High-Speed 2 rail infrastructure and 5G multi-city testbed facilities.
All of this gives us the confidence that we’re not alone in believing that the office is alive and kicking and, like Mark Twain in 1897 when he protested at stories that he had died, reports of its demise are somewhat premature.
Paul Faulkner is chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of
Commerce
The interaction and camaraderie in an office cannot be underestimated or replaced