UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX

Birmingham

Updated: 16th February

UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX

Index + DART for Birmingham

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Overview

The Recovery Index for Birmingham is tracking just above the National Index, at 86.4 and 83.1 respectively. The trend in recent weeks has been one of recovery, thanks to the early peak for Omicron and the return to ‘plan A’ Covid measures.

Birmingham continues to perform well compared to other cities when looking at the Hotel and Leisure index, although for the Retail index only London has a lower reading. The Mobility and Return To Office indices have seen a marked rebound in the last month.

UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX

Sector Indices + DART for Birmingham

Birmingham Sector Indices

Commercial Activity

  • At 90.5 on 7th February, the Commercial Activity Sector Index for Birmingham has remained steady over the last few months. This index peaked in late October, then gradually deteriorated in November and December, but now seems to have levelled off.

Hotel & Leisure

  • The Hotel & Leisure Sector Index for Birmingham at 93.8 is the highest of all the cities covered in our survey. The index peaked in early October at around 125.2, in part due to the release of the latest James Bond film boosting cinema box office takings. The index has retreated since then, but that is in line with the national picture.

Mobility

  • Following the easing of restrictions in January, the Mobility Sector Index for Birmingham has leapt by nearly 28% in the month to 7th February, reaching 114.0. This is particularly impressive when compared to a year ago, a time when the city was in lockdown, and the index stood at around the 44.0 mark.

Residential

  • The Residential Sector Index has edged up slightly over the last month, reaching 87.8 on the 7th February. However, it should be noted that back in the Autumn of last year the index was above the 100 mark. The subsequent slide during the winter months reflects the seasonality of the market, so there is reason to suppose the index will strengthen again when we reach Spring.

Retail

  • The Birmingham retail sub-index saw only a modest increase from 72.4 to 74.8 in the month to 7th February. It should be noted that late January and early February is traditionally a quiet time for retail, so arguably it is impressive there was a small improvement. This reflects renewed public confidence to venture out after the latest Covid wave peaked.

Return To Office

  • The Return to Office sector saw a marked improvement, rising from 44.9 to 52.8 in the month to 7th February. This reflects the government ending its work from home recommendation as it ended the ‘plan B’ restrictions.

UK CITIES RECOVERY INDEX

National Sector Indices + DART for Birmingham

A VIEW FROM BIRMINGHAM

Carl Potter

Managing Director

“Birmingham has a well-earned reputation for leveraging its strong conference and exhibition credentials and an enviably high-quality restaurant offering to attract visitors and locals alike. The effects of COVID-19 and lockdown have hit the hospitality and leisure sectors particularly hard. The city, its professional business and financial services sectors and its populous need to work very hard to ensure long lasting damage and irreplaceable losses do not impact upon Birmingham’s strong reputation. As the City works through its growth prospects for the post COVID-19 recovery it must be mindful of its needs, ensuring the wellbeing of its people is at the forefront of policy and decision making.

The need for swift reactions is exemplified by the time proximity of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will be hosted by the city and will, with a positive trajectory, enable Birmingham to continue its journey to recognition as one of the most enjoyable cities in Europe. Time is absolutely of the essence in ensuring we build forward positively and embrace the cultural and climatic changes required to ensure sustainable progress.”

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