"The city centre may bounce back, but the city itself will need much more than office blocks and boosterism. By every possible economic metric, Britain’s second largest city is in crisis. Its official unemployment rate is 9.8%, second only to Blackpool with 9.9%. Many more Brummies are likely to add to that tally. Birmingham has more people on furlough – 55,400 – than any other local authority in the country. Once the city of a thousand trades, manufacturing jobs have dramatically declined: one in five worked in manufacturing in 1999, but it was one in 10 by 2019. Far too few of those jobs have been replaced; and where they have, they are predominantly low-paid, low-skilled and low-security. To make matters worse, Birmingham is a young city – almost half the population is under the age of 30.
And then there is Brexit. “We will be one of the worst-affected areas of the country,” admits Street, a proud Remainer. “If I had been an MP, I would have been one of the 21 losing the whip,” he says, referring to the purge of MPs who voted against a no-deal Brexit.
Birmingham’s big bet of the past decade was retail. The Bull Ring was rebuilt with a new Selfridges at its heart, the Mailbox brought Harvey Nichols to the city, and, five years ago, a new shopping centre was created on top of New Street station, with John Lewis as the anchor tenant. In a symbolic blow to the city, the department store recently announced that, after closing during the first lockdown, it would not reopen. Street, who was managing director of the retailer for nine years, admits he felt “rotten” when it was announced."
Source: Has Britain’s second largest city reached breaking point? | UK news | The Guardian
It's grim up here
And then there is Brexit. “We will be one of the worst-affected areas of the country,” admits Street, a proud Remainer. “If I had been an MP, I would have been one of the 21 losing the whip,” he says, referring to the purge of MPs who voted against a no-deal Brexit.
Birmingham’s big bet of the past decade was retail. The Bull Ring was rebuilt with a new Selfridges at its heart, the Mailbox brought Harvey Nichols to the city, and, five years ago, a new shopping centre was created on top of New Street station, with John Lewis as the anchor tenant. In a symbolic blow to the city, the department store recently announced that, after closing during the first lockdown, it would not reopen. Street, who was managing director of the retailer for nine years, admits he felt “rotten” when it was announced."
Source: Has Britain’s second largest city reached breaking point? | UK news | The Guardian
It's grim up here
Comment