Birmingham's Local Business Scene

Birmingham earned its old nickname, "the workshop of the world," through more than a century as one of Britain's great manufacturing centres - and while the city's economy has shifted hard towards services, that manufacturing character still shapes several genuinely distinct business districts.

The Jewellery Quarter: still a working trade district

Unlike many "heritage" industrial areas that have become purely residential or leisure-focused, Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter remains a genuinely active centre for jewellery manufacturing and trade, with hundreds of independent jewellers, workshops and related businesses still operating from its Victorian factory buildings.

Colmore Business District: the modern financial core

Birmingham's financial and professional services sector is concentrated in Colmore Business District, in the city centre - now home to a large concentration of the city's legal, accountancy and financial firms, and given a significant boost when HSBC UK relocated its ring-fenced retail bank headquarters to Birmingham in 2018.

Digbeth: the creative quarter

Just south-east of the centre, Digbeth's former industrial buildings now house a dense cluster of creative, digital and independent hospitality businesses - one of the more visible signs of Birmingham's broader shift towards a services and creative economy over the past two decades.

A genuinely diverse retail and services base

Beyond these specific districts, Birmingham's size supports one of the UK's largest and most diverse concentrations of independent retail and service businesses outside London, reflecting the city's equally diverse population.

Explore what's actually operating locally today via businesses listed in Birmingham on Adsquare.