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London, Paris and Frankfurt remain
Europe’s favourite business cities
Brian Baker reviews a report by Cushman Wakefield*
28 October 2009: London continues to be rated as the leading European business city in 2009. Paris is again ranked second but the gap between it and London has widened. Frankfurt remains the third most favoured city in an annual survey of business leaders conducted by Cushman Wakefield.
'Easy access to markets, customers or clients' is now regarded as the most important factor when deciding to locate a business, replacing the availability of qualified staff. The quality of telecommunications and transport links with other cities remain in third and fourth place respectively. Overall, these four factors remain the most important, with over half of the sample continuing to class these factors as absolutely essential when deciding to locate a business.
Europe's best business cities
In 1990 only 25 cities were included in the study.
The message of the 2009 survey, according to report author Elaine Rossall, is that whilst the recessionary impact of the last 12- 18 months has been painful for cities across the world they must continue to pursue future strategies and promote themselves. Eventually, businesses will become more confident and make decisions about new facilities and re-locations which will bring inward investment to some.
Whilst London, Paris and Frankfurt continue to top these rankings of 34 cities across Europe as they have since the survey began in 1990 and Brussels and Barcelona continue to vie for 4th and 5th places there were some changes in the middle regions of the overall table.
Birmingham was the city making the most progress this year. It rose seven places to fourteenth. Others rising up the overall table this year included Munich, Milan and Leeds. On value for money of office space, which was one of the factors cited as more important to businesses this year, Birmingham rose to equal first with Leeds.
Ms Rossall says “they improved in most of the categories this year. In terms of promotion Birmingham has been very pro-active in the last 12 - 18 months and its retail and office offer has improved in recent years. ”
She warns against expecting immediate payback for major improvements. “It can take a company 10 - 15 years to change its overall perception of a city. It is a long-term process. Business people perhaps don’t notice change very quickly. They spend a lot of time in hotels and offices.“
So, whilst Birmingham’s greatly improved retail offer dates back to the opening of Selfridges and the new Bull Ring Centre in 2003 it is only now affecting the perceptions of people at the strategic level in large corporates.
London has strengthened its overall leadership position since 2008 despite being heavily affected by the banking sector crisis and it placed first in six of the twelve specific categories which respondents are asked about each year.
Elaine Rossall says London is seen as making major improvements in the current period largely because of the 2012 Olympic Games effect. It also seems to have benefited in some respects from the economic fall-out as it rose to second -place for availability of office space.
Barcelona’s climb in these business perception ratings began with the Olympics in 1992 and has been sustained by good promotion and investment in improvements.
Ms Rossall says: “ Barcelona, Berlin and Madrid all promote themselves well globally. From that perspective they become more familiar to corporates and so there clearly is a knock -on effect from that type of city investment to how well they do in the survey.”
The success of the two major Spanish cities continues to impress. Rossall admits to being surprised that Barcelona and Madrid both secured increased scores in most of the ranking issues this year. “They have been rising steadily since the mid 1990’s but l did not expect it this year given that Spain has been affected more severely by the economic slow-down than most similar countries.”
Barcelona ousted Brussels from fourth place overall and Madrid rose one place to sixth. In the category of cities improving themselves Barcelona moved up to first place this year with Madrid fourth. The perception of London as improving was reflected in its rise to second. Berlin was third. Barcelona also remained first for quality of life of employees.
The interviewees are asked which other European cities are important for business in their view. Last year this table was headed by Valencia but it has slipped to fifth in 2009. Luxembourg city was mentioned by the most respondents this year followed by Cologne, Marseille and Lille.
“Because its not prompted there are wider variations in the responses to this question each year but some cities do consistently place highly notably Stuttgart, sixth this year, and Valencia,” comments Rossall.
Although the significance of the cost of office space rose in the perceptions of corporates in this year’s survey it still lagged behind the four factors, which are regularly the highest placed in importance to business. This year easy access to markets, customers and clients replaced availability of qualified staff at the top. Quality of communication was third and good transport links fourth.
Rossall says that broadband connectivity varies between cities and this can be an important factor in any strategic decisions “ Large companies usually need to communicate electronically across the world efficiently. The broadband issue will have a bearing on how companies see different cities.”
Although the Central and Eastern European cities fell back in this year’s survey many still figure in prospective expansion plans for the next five years. Warsaw was the city cited by the largest number of companies as a possible expansion location in this year’s survey and Bucharest and Moscow also figured highly. London, Paris and Brussels were most favoured amongst the leading cities.
Responses to questions about a property strategy for 2009/10 provoked responses, which reflected the differences between short term and medium term opinions. Consolidation of office space was the key factor cited by the largest number of respondents but future expansion was close behind.
Elaine Rossall says: “Some companies are looking at greater efficiencies and consolidation of existing office space but you also have companies which are looking at expansion now because the cost of property has come down. They can have more space for the same or lower cost at present.”
Worldwide expansion
Companies were also asked about global expansion and asked to consider in which worldwide cities outside Europe, where they are not currently represented, they may expand to in five years’ time.
There is a marked fall in the number of European companies who state that they may consider global expansion, with no city nominated by more than 20 companies. New York moves up from seventh place in last year’s rating to first, as the number of companies who may consider New York as a new destination rises from 13 to 19.
The Brazilian cities are also increasingly popular global destinations, particularly São Paulo which is the third most frequently mentioned destination behind Shanghai. Shanghai remains the destination of choice in China and is second behind New York, although the number of companies potentially locating in Shanghai is half the levels recorded in 2008. The Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi are also anticipated to continue to attract European companies over the next 5 years although, while maintaining their position in the ranking, actual numbers are down sharply.
*European Cities Monitor is based on telephone interviews with board members and senior managers at large companies which are headquartered in Europe. Each year 500 are included of which at least one third are different from the previous year. The survey has been carried out every year since 1990 by global real estate services company Cushman Wakefield and includes consumer retail and distribution, industrial and professional services businesses.
'Easy access to markets, customers or clients' is now regarded as the most important factor when deciding to locate a business, replacing the availability of qualified staff. The quality of telecommunications and transport links with other cities remain in third and fourth place respectively. Overall, these four factors remain the most important, with over half of the sample continuing to class these factors as absolutely essential when deciding to locate a business.
Europe's best business cities
|
2009
Rank |
City
|
2008 Rank
|
1990 Rank
|
|
1
|
London |
1
|
1
|
|
2
|
Paris |
2
|
2
|
|
3
|
Frankfurt |
3
|
3
|
|
4
|
Barcelona |
5
|
11
|
|
5
|
Brussels |
4
|
4
|
|
6
|
Madrid |
7
|
17
|
|
7
|
Munich |
9
|
12
|
|
8
|
Amsterdam |
6
|
5
|
|
9
|
Berlin |
8
|
15
|
|
10
|
Milan |
13
|
9
|
|
11
|
Geneva |
11
|
8
|
|
12
|
Hamburg |
17
|
14
|
|
13
|
Zurich |
10
|
7
|
|
14
|
Birmingham |
21
|
-
|
|
15
|
Düsseldorf |
12
|
6
|
|
16
|
Manchester |
14
|
13
|
|
17
|
Lisbon |
16
|
16
|
|
18
|
Dublin |
15
|
-
|
|
19
|
Lyon |
18
|
18
|
|
20
|
Stockholm |
20
|
19
|
|
21
|
Prague |
19
|
23
|
|
22
|
Rome |
25
|
-
|
|
23
|
Warsaw |
24
|
25
|
|
24
|
Leeds |
28
|
-
|
|
25
|
Copenhagen |
23
|
-
|
|
26
|
Budapest |
22
|
21
|
|
27
|
Istanbul |
29
|
-
|
|
28
|
Vienna |
26
|
20
|
|
29
|
Glasgow |
27
|
10
|
|
30
|
Bucharest |
31
|
-
|
|
31
|
Helsinki |
30
|
-
|
|
32
|
Moscow |
32
|
24
|
|
33
|
Oslo |
33
|
|
|
34
|
Athens |
34
|
22
|
The message of the 2009 survey, according to report author Elaine Rossall, is that whilst the recessionary impact of the last 12- 18 months has been painful for cities across the world they must continue to pursue future strategies and promote themselves. Eventually, businesses will become more confident and make decisions about new facilities and re-locations which will bring inward investment to some.
Whilst London, Paris and Frankfurt continue to top these rankings of 34 cities across Europe as they have since the survey began in 1990 and Brussels and Barcelona continue to vie for 4th and 5th places there were some changes in the middle regions of the overall table.
Birmingham was the city making the most progress this year. It rose seven places to fourteenth. Others rising up the overall table this year included Munich, Milan and Leeds. On value for money of office space, which was one of the factors cited as more important to businesses this year, Birmingham rose to equal first with Leeds.
Ms Rossall says “they improved in most of the categories this year. In terms of promotion Birmingham has been very pro-active in the last 12 - 18 months and its retail and office offer has improved in recent years. ”
She warns against expecting immediate payback for major improvements. “It can take a company 10 - 15 years to change its overall perception of a city. It is a long-term process. Business people perhaps don’t notice change very quickly. They spend a lot of time in hotels and offices.“
So, whilst Birmingham’s greatly improved retail offer dates back to the opening of Selfridges and the new Bull Ring Centre in 2003 it is only now affecting the perceptions of people at the strategic level in large corporates.
London has strengthened its overall leadership position since 2008 despite being heavily affected by the banking sector crisis and it placed first in six of the twelve specific categories which respondents are asked about each year.
Elaine Rossall says London is seen as making major improvements in the current period largely because of the 2012 Olympic Games effect. It also seems to have benefited in some respects from the economic fall-out as it rose to second -place for availability of office space.
Barcelona’s climb in these business perception ratings began with the Olympics in 1992 and has been sustained by good promotion and investment in improvements.
Ms Rossall says: “ Barcelona, Berlin and Madrid all promote themselves well globally. From that perspective they become more familiar to corporates and so there clearly is a knock -on effect from that type of city investment to how well they do in the survey.”
The success of the two major Spanish cities continues to impress. Rossall admits to being surprised that Barcelona and Madrid both secured increased scores in most of the ranking issues this year. “They have been rising steadily since the mid 1990’s but l did not expect it this year given that Spain has been affected more severely by the economic slow-down than most similar countries.”
Barcelona ousted Brussels from fourth place overall and Madrid rose one place to sixth. In the category of cities improving themselves Barcelona moved up to first place this year with Madrid fourth. The perception of London as improving was reflected in its rise to second. Berlin was third. Barcelona also remained first for quality of life of employees.
The interviewees are asked which other European cities are important for business in their view. Last year this table was headed by Valencia but it has slipped to fifth in 2009. Luxembourg city was mentioned by the most respondents this year followed by Cologne, Marseille and Lille.
“Because its not prompted there are wider variations in the responses to this question each year but some cities do consistently place highly notably Stuttgart, sixth this year, and Valencia,” comments Rossall.
Although the significance of the cost of office space rose in the perceptions of corporates in this year’s survey it still lagged behind the four factors, which are regularly the highest placed in importance to business. This year easy access to markets, customers and clients replaced availability of qualified staff at the top. Quality of communication was third and good transport links fourth.
Rossall says that broadband connectivity varies between cities and this can be an important factor in any strategic decisions “ Large companies usually need to communicate electronically across the world efficiently. The broadband issue will have a bearing on how companies see different cities.”
Although the Central and Eastern European cities fell back in this year’s survey many still figure in prospective expansion plans for the next five years. Warsaw was the city cited by the largest number of companies as a possible expansion location in this year’s survey and Bucharest and Moscow also figured highly. London, Paris and Brussels were most favoured amongst the leading cities.
Responses to questions about a property strategy for 2009/10 provoked responses, which reflected the differences between short term and medium term opinions. Consolidation of office space was the key factor cited by the largest number of respondents but future expansion was close behind.
Elaine Rossall says: “Some companies are looking at greater efficiencies and consolidation of existing office space but you also have companies which are looking at expansion now because the cost of property has come down. They can have more space for the same or lower cost at present.”
Worldwide expansion
Companies were also asked about global expansion and asked to consider in which worldwide cities outside Europe, where they are not currently represented, they may expand to in five years’ time.
There is a marked fall in the number of European companies who state that they may consider global expansion, with no city nominated by more than 20 companies. New York moves up from seventh place in last year’s rating to first, as the number of companies who may consider New York as a new destination rises from 13 to 19.
The Brazilian cities are also increasingly popular global destinations, particularly São Paulo which is the third most frequently mentioned destination behind Shanghai. Shanghai remains the destination of choice in China and is second behind New York, although the number of companies potentially locating in Shanghai is half the levels recorded in 2008. The Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi are also anticipated to continue to attract European companies over the next 5 years although, while maintaining their position in the ranking, actual numbers are down sharply.
*European Cities Monitor is based on telephone interviews with board members and senior managers at large companies which are headquartered in Europe. Each year 500 are included of which at least one third are different from the previous year. The survey has been carried out every year since 1990 by global real estate services company Cushman Wakefield and includes consumer retail and distribution, industrial and professional services businesses.
