Employment, skills and the local economy

City centre high street image with brightly coloured images of people embedded on

‘Boost investment in Birmingham, creating thousands of jobs and become a world- leader in hosting international events.’

We want Birmingham to be an entrepreneurial city to learn, work and invest in, where people from all parts of the city can prosper and succeed.

The significant capital investment of £145m associated with the Games presents an opportunity to support key economic sectors and upskill citizens to access new employment opportunities.

Working with our partners we are already putting in place the programmes and initiatives to ensure the right people are connected to the right opportunities. These initiatives must be sustained once the Games is over and must be linked with other strategies across the city, such as the East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Strategy.

The Games presents the single biggest opportunity in a generation to position Birmingham as a major sporting events city.

To capitalise on this, we recently published our Major Sporting Events Strategy 2022 to 2032, which aims to enhance our existing portfolio of major sporting events, while helping us to prioritise, plan and bid for future opportunities. Our approach includes a 10-year indoor events deal with UK Athletics.

Alongside major sporting events, the Games provides an opportunity to promote tourism, trade and inward investment into Birmingham. We will support the West Midlands Growth Company to deliver a targeted tourism and inward investment campaign, promoting Birmingham as the world class city it is. A new Visitor Destination Plan will continue to share the positive messages about the city encouraging both residents and tourists to explore Birmingham’s hidden gems in a way that is accessible to everyone.

It is also imperative that we continually review how the services we procure can maximise opportunities and benefits across the city. We will continue to secure benefits for local people through the Birmingham Business Charter for Social Responsibility, as well as through planning and development commitments which are secured via planning conditions or contributions.