published 15 June 2013
Birmingham has one of the world’s largest local governmental bodies, representing over a million citizens. Five universities are located in Birmingham, two of which are research intensive. Based off those factors, a technological industry community should be present. But it isn’t.
The sky is grey without a trace of blue in sight. The gusts of wind shake the trees, throw leaves and litter and slow down any people walking against them. Occasional raindrops foreshadow the oncoming downpour. The surrounding, uniquely-designed buildings are the only colour to be seen: red, orange, brown, white and black. The buildings look like geometric shapes stacked on top of each other, with sharp corners making them distinct against the sky. We are in the Eastside, Birmingham’s creative and innovative quarter.
Occupied by the Millennium Point, four university campuses and the Birmingham Science Park, the Eastside is also home to a large portion of Birmingham’s 3,500 tech and digital media businesses. It is also a part of a redevelopment project meant to revitalise the city: The Big City Plan. It is an effort to improve the city, allow room for future innovation and create more jobs. As part of the plan, the Science Park has been developing something called the Digital Plaza, a £35 million investment.
Historically, Birmingham has been a manufacturing city. Birmingham was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The city was even called the workshop of the world. In the 1970s, half the workforce was engaged in manufacturing. The 2011 Census from the Office for National Statistics reveals that manufacturing jobs account for a tenth of the workforce, the same amount as the digital media industry does currently.
The Birmingham Science Park has the answers to what the Digital Plaza will be and illustrates the shift from manufacturing to technology. Luckily, everything is close together in the Eastside. On one side of the street is one of Birmingham City University’s campuses and on the other side is Aston University. Finding Faraday Wharf, the home of the science park, is no challenge.
Faraday Wharf is the gateway to the Eastside’s digital district, an area of tech and digital media businesses. The Wharf provides office space and meeting venues, support for tech start-ups and spearheads the development of the Digital Plaza at the Science Park. The Digital Plaza will also act as office space, but it will be more high-tech, with the intent to create a business incubator culture.
Inside Faraday Wharf is the office David Hardman, CEO of the Birmingham Science Park. He joined the Science Park four and half years ago, when an opportunity to turn the park around presented itself. “There was no incubation of ideas or technology. It’s the third oldest science park in the UK, but it has fallen way behind. We could run to catch up or step-jump,” says Hardman.
Step-jumping for the Science Park means forming and maintaining a technological industry community, which Birmingham lacks. The community should already exist given what is in Birmingham currently. Hardman explains, “You’ve got the public, the private and the academe.”
Hardman explains that the Digital Plaza will be the place for that community to thrive. It will start with the construction of the iCentrum building, which will be “a spectacle to build. It’s meant to attract future tech companies that don’t exist yet. It’ll create the environment conductive to networking and developing ideas. The goal is to promote accidental discoveries among the businesses and companies working inside the building.”
Next stop is Fazeley Street. Along the street are current and former manufacturing businesses, a steel factory on one side, a boarded-up car garage on the other. Some buildings are decorated with graffiti, one even as a full canvas. The area seems unlikely to have tech or digital media companies, but it’s home to Fazeley Studios.
Fazeley Studios is a work space for creative and digital businesses. The almost immaculate interior is in contrast with the rough exterior, featuring religious pictures, an elephant statue and even its own bar and café. Fazeley Studios houses businesses like One Black Bear (a social media business) and Shadow Giants (a marketing and PR company).
Inside Fazeley Studios is Kelly Jackson, of One Black Bear, and Amy Kiernan, of Shadow Giants. Jackson explains how digital media has been on the rise, since her induction into One Black Bear six months ago, “Digital media will definitely expand. I worked for a print and PR agency prior and noticed a shift to meeting clients. And these companies are more willing to put investment in digital marketing and social media. The same companies would have been scared to think about that three or four years ago.”
According to Centre of Economics and Business Research’s report “The Contribution of the Arts and Culture to the National Economy” (April, 2013), government investment in arts and culture (under which digital media industries fall) brings 400% return on investment. Arts and culture generate more investment than the health, wholesale and retail, and professional and business service sectors. With proof like this, the fear of investment from four years ago is no longer present.
Concerning the feel and appearance of the surrounding area, Kiernan says, “With these new businesses, inside tended to go outside and outsides are coming inside. Especially with the Custard Factory, another local arts and media centre, on the outside you see graffiti, but on the inside you have a clean interior, white and high ceilings. Fazeley Street is being redeveloped, too. As industry is changing, the spaces are being re-used. Look at the case of Landrover, when they folded, the building became a college. Industrial sites are becoming educational or academic spaces.”
From 2007 to 2008, Ford Motor Company sold Jaguar Land Rover operations to India-based Tata Motors. Manufacturing began to move outside the city centre, opening up buildings for new purposes.
Jackson adds that, “The buildings may look abandoned, but they aren’t as abandoned as they look. Warehouses are turning into clubs and other industries. Renovation is a part of the Eastside Project.”
When asked about the future of the Birmingham job market, Jackson explains that “it’s hard to call what the future of Birmingham jobs is. The work that Business Birmingham is doing to bring organisations into the city is bringing so many career prospects, so many opportunities, so much to offer.”
As technology advances and digital media expand, more companies are willing to invest in them, creating more jobs, stimulating the economy and form a city-wide community. And with the creation of the technological industry community that it had lacked prior, Birmingham will be considered the workshop of the digital world.
Published with photos at: CulTour Magazine