Birmingham, United Kingdom
What Birmingham UK is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 23,634 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.
23,634 businesses on file · 140 trades · 118 sectors · registry population 1,144,900 · built from geonet.birminghamuk on 2026-11-07
Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Birmingham UK → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.
The local economy
What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.
Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.
Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.
What this city is specialised in
Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 2 UK metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.
Thin against the national pattern
Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.
| Industry group | LQ | Businesses | Entry signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4595 Used merchandise retailers — Used Merchandise & Resale Retail | 0.13 | 6 | Caution |
| 5312 Offices of real estate agents and brokers | 0.15 | 7 | Caution |
| 6214 Out-patient care centres | 0.3 | 9 | Caution |
| 4453 Beer, wine and liquor retailers — Private Liquor Retail | 0.32 | 22 | Structure decides |
| 8121 Personal care services | 0.33 | 19 | Caution+1 more |
| 5415 Computer systems design and related services — IT Services & Systems Integration | 0.34 | 50 | Caution |
| 4591 Sporting goods, hobby and musical instrument retailers | 0.39 | 10 | Caution |
| 4561 Health and personal care retailers | 0.46 | 15 | Caution |
The base against the entry screen
Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.
How to read the survival figure
Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.
Weighted over 98.8% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And what it does not measure
A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.
Who lives here, and who the city is for
The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.
No census subdivision is mapped for uk-birmingham in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.
The communities the register shows
A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.
| Community | Institutions | Worship | Trade | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islamic | 5 | 1 | 12 |
British Association Of Muslims · Bangladesh Islamic and Social Organisation · Islamic Welfare Association |
| Irish | 2 | — | 9 |
Cara Irish Housing Association · Cara Irish Housing Association |
| Jewish | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Birmingham Jewish Association · Birmingham Jewish Community Care |
| Chinese | 1 | 1 | 33 |
Chinese Evangelical Church |
| South Asian | 1 | 1 | 12 | trade on Graham Street (2) · Waverley Road (2)
Council Of Sikh Gurdwarars The |
| Welsh | 1 | — | 1 |
Welsh House Farm Community School |
| Serbian | 1 | 1 | — |
Serbian Orthodox Church Of The Holy Prince Lazar |
| Nigerian | 1 | — | — |
United Nigerian Welfare Association |
| Polish | — | — | 34 | trade on Lombard Street (2)
|
| Scottish | — | — | 11 | |
| French | — | — | 10 | |
| Dutch | — | — | 9 | |
| Thai | — | — | 6 | |
| Italian | — | — | 6 | |
| Caribbean | — | — | 6 | |
| Greek | — | — | 3 | |
| Spanish-speaking | — | — | 3 | |
| Swiss | — | — | 3 | |
| Vietnamese | — | — | 2 | |
| Danish | — | — | 2 | |
| German | — | — | 2 | |
| Japanese | — | — | 1 | |
| Russian | — | — | 1 | |
| Norwegian | — | — | 1 | |
| Arabic-speaking | — | — | 1 | |
| Indigenous | — | — | 1 |
Where the communities are
Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.
South Asian
What the city is made of
Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 23,634 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.
| Sector | Businesses | Share | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living | 591 | 2.5% | place of worship (198) · cleaning (121) · furniture (97) · appliances (63) · fire safety (46) · property (29) · veterinary (20) · apartment (5) |
| Retail | 587 | 2.5% | jeweler (303) · flowers (120) · photography (78) · gifts (24) · pet supply (19) · department store (12) · toys (8) · antiques (6) |
| Construction | 559 | 2.4% | plumbing (148) · roofing (92) · machinery (88) · painting (69) · heating and cooling (50) · carpet (32) · electrician (31) · flooring (22) |
| advertising | 516 | 2.2% | bankruptcy (1) |
| Education | 515 | 2.2% | school (429) · library (59) · garden (26) · writing (1) |
| Business | 506 | 2.1% | association (190) · accounting (172) · government (63) · consulting (43) · foundation (11) · auction (8) · bank (8) · vending (6) |
| Dining | 384 | 1.6% | restaurant (265) · pizza (58) · fast food (37) · diner (18) · pubs (4) · steakhouse (1) · chinese restaurant (1) |
| Automotive | 294 | 1.2% | autos (203) · tires (64) · auto repair (9) · auto parts (8) · scooter (4) · detailing (3) · bankruptcy (1) · motorcycle (1) |
| engineer | 273 | 1.2% | |
| Travel | 241 | 1% | travel agent (135) · hotel (89) · parking (9) · airline (4) · motel (4) |
| Food | 237 | 1% | grocer (113) · catering (54) · baker (46) · fruit (12) · ice cream (6) · seafood (5) · deli (1) |
| cafes | 235 | 1% | insurance (1) |
| Finance | 198 | 0.8% | insurance (104) · bank (46) · mortgage (43) · loans (3) · credit union (1) · garden (1) |
| housewares | 166 | 0.7% | |
| legal | 166 | 0.7% | |
| electric | 166 | 0.7% | |
| construction | 164 | 0.7% | landscaping (1) |
| Media | 149 | 0.6% | signs (87) · advertising (62) |
| Logistics | 149 | 0.6% | storage (61) · packaging (39) · truck transportation (25) · forklifts (15) · railroad (8) · towing (1) |
| emergency | 147 | 0.6% |
The franchises already here
Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.
53 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.
| Brand | Category | Here | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Mail | post | 14 | 14,300 |
| St. John | retail | 10 | — |
| Salvation Army | retail | 9 | — |
| Pizza Hut | pizza | 5 | 10,000 |
| Burger King | fastfood | 4 | 11,000 |
| Royal Bank | bank | 4 | — |
| Cash Converters | retail | 3 | 16 |
| Costa Coffee | coffee | 3 | 755 |
| Holiday Inn | businesshotel | 3 | — |
| The Body Shop | retail | 3 | — |
| Thomas Cook | travel | 3 | 700 |
| Whittard of Chelsea | retail | 3 | — |
| Allied Irish Bank | bank | 2 | — |
| Blockbuster Video | video | 2 | 5,900 |
| Crowne Plaza | upscalehotel | 2 | — |
| Enterprise Rent A Car | car | 2 | 5,400 |
| Flight Centre | travel | 2 | 1,500 |
| House of Fraser | retail | 2 | — |
| Jack in the Box | fastfood | 2 | 2,079 |
| JD Sports | retail | 2 | 400 |
| Laura Ashley | retail | 2 | — |
| Pizza Factory | pizza | 2 | 135 |
| Abbey National | bank | 1 | — |
| Alamo Rent A Car | car | 1 | 1,000 |
| Bargain Shop | retail | 1 | 165 |
| Bob Evans | food | 1 | 600 |
| Budget Rent A Car | car | 1 | 1,900 |
| Carlson Wagonlit Travel | travel | 1 | 4,300 |
| Comfort Inn | familyhotel | 1 | — |
| Days Inn | economyhotel | 1 | — |
| Disney Store | retail | 1 | — |
| Furniture Medic | specialty | 1 | 600 |
| Hard Rock Cafe | food | 1 | 140 |
| Harvey Nichols | retail | 1 | 10 |
| Hertz Rent A Car | car | 1 | 7,000 |
| LA Fitness | fitness | 1 | — |
| La Senza | lingerie | 1 | — |
| Merry Maids | cleaner | 1 | 970 |
| Nationwide Auto Centres | auto | 1 | — |
| Outback Steakhouse | food | 1 | — |
| Signs Now | specialty | 1 | — |
| Snappy Tomato Pizza | pizza | 1 | 75 |
| Sunglass Hut | retail | 1 | — |
| Wyevale Garden Centres | retail | 1 | 100 |
| Dillons name only | supermarket | 23 | 18 |
| Manor name only | retail | 18 | — |
| Michaels name only | retail | 12 | 805 |
| Limited name only | retail | 8 | — |
| Burton name only | retail | 7 | — |
| Tesco name only | retail | 7 | 1,780 |
| Safeway name only | supermarket | 6 | 1,767 |
| Somerfield name only | supermarket | 6 | 1,132 |
| Starbucks name only | coffee | 6 | 3,500 |
| HSBC name only | bank | 4 | — |
| Kingfisher name only | home | 4 | 680 |
| Roots name only | retail | 4 | 145 |
| Coach name only | luggage | 3 | — |
| Hallmark name only | greetingcards | 3 | 5,600 |
| Renaissance name only | upscalehotel | 3 | — |
| Waterstones name only | retail | 3 | 193 |
| ASDA name only | supermarket | 2 | 243 |
| Benetton name only | retail | 2 | — |
| Blackwell name only | book | 2 | 6 |
| Londis name only | supermarket | 2 | 2,100 |
| MANGO name only | retail | 2 | 850 |
| Midas name only | auto | 2 | 1,800 |
| Mothercare name only | retail | 2 | — |
| Progressive name only | supermarket | 2 | 150 |
| SuperCuts name only | inc | 2 | 2,000 |
| Volkswagen name only | — | 2 | — |
| Armani name only | fashion | 1 | — |
| AutoZone name only | auto | 1 | 3,800 |
| Borders name only | book | 1 | 559 |
| Carrefour name only | supermarket | 1 | 2,455 |
| Champion name only | supermarket | 1 | 1,000 |
| Europcar name only | car | 1 | 2,825 |
| Halfords name only | retail | 1 | 420 |
| HomeBase locations name only | retail | 1 | 320 |
| Honda name only | car | 1 | — |
| Hyatt name only | upscalehotel | 1 | — |
| Intersport name only | retail | 1 | 60 |
| Jacob name only | retail | 1 | 200 |
| Lacoste name only | — | 1 | — |
| Lexus name only | luxurycar | 1 | — |
| Marriott name only | upscalehotel | 1 | 2,800 |
| Mitsubishi name only | auto | 1 | — |
| MONTBLANC name only | retail | 1 | — |
| Nissan name only | auto | 1 | — |
| Origins name only | haircare | 1 | — |
| Pavilions name only | supermarket | 1 | 32 |
| Powells name only | book | 1 | 9 |
| Primark name only | retail | 1 | 160 |
| Sears name only | inc | 1 | 2,300 |
| Stuckeys name only | convenience | 1 | 200 |
| Talbots name only | retail | 1 | 592 |
| Travelodge name only | economyhotel | 1 | — |
| Waitrose name only | supermarket | 1 | 184 |
Real estate as a local trade
Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.
Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.
Selling homes
5312Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.
Named in the register
- Barratt Last and Co — 307 Chester Road; Castle Bromwich
- British Ensign Builders — 20 Harborne Road; Edgbaston
- C H and H Developments — 17 Sherbourne Road; Acocks Green
- Churchills Real Estate — 173 Birchfield Road
- Local Letting — 31 Harrison Road; Erdington
- Sisyphus Rock — 135 Sherlock Street; Highgate
- White Rose Real Estates — George Nott House; 119 Holloway Head
Owning and letting
5311Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.
Named in the register
- Asquith House Apartments — 19 Portland Road
- Grange Park Management Zone A — Nettleton House; Calthorpe Road
- Metropolitan Apartments — 95 Newhall Street
- Sandpiper Quay Management Co No 1 — 62 Hagley Road; Edgbaston
- The Millennium Apartments Management Co — 95 Newhall Street
Managing for owners
5313Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.
Named in the register
- Accommodation Link — 59 Station Road; Erdington
- City Property Management Services
- D N D Properties — 82 Northwood Street
- Facilities Maintenance and Management — H R S Indsti Estate; Garretts Grn Lane
- Haven Property Managements — 3 Bear Hill; Alvechurch
- J R Estates — 175 Hagley Road
- Johnson Control Systems — Waterlinks Ho, Richard St, B7
- Legal Property Services — 141 Sandon Road; Edgbaston
- Manor Close RMO — 1 St. Michaels Clo Melville Rd, B16
- Prince Warnes — Unit 4 Newhall Place; 16-17 Newhall Hill
- Property Fund Management Plc — 6 Vine Terrace; High Street
- Scriven and Co — 817 Hagley Rd West, B32
- Symonds Group — 95 Hagley Road
- Wolfs — Weekin Works; 112-116 Park Hill Road
Building new homes
2361Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.
Named in the register
- Avon Estates — Wythe Hth Mobile Home Pk, Chapel La, 47
- Chichester Caravans — 309 Hagley Road West
- John Laing Plc — 41 Landor Street; Bordesley
Financing it
5222Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.
Named in the register
- Apna Home and Mortgage — 399 Alum Rock Road
- Birmingham Mortgage Co — Central House; 582-586 Kingsbury Road
- Complete Mortgage Solutions — 65 Qube
- Full Independent Mortgage Services — 1195 Tyburn Road
- M Wise Midlands — 52 Station Road; Erdington
- Manco U K — 590a Kingsbury Road; Erdington
- Mayfield Mortgage Services — 26 Belwell Lane; Four Oaks
- Mortgage Cafecouk — 430 Kingstanding Road
- Mortgage Choices Direct — 406a Birmingham Road; Wylde Grn
- Platinum Estates and Mortgages — 224 Alum Rock Road
- Premier Financial Services U K — 1204 Stratford Road; Hall Green
- Robert May Financial Services — 251 Mary Vale Road; Bourneville
- The Mortgage Centre — 619 Washwood Heath Road
- The Mortgage Point — 14 Great Charles St Queensway
On "how many doors"
How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.
Work on the go, mobile services
The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you. Each service opens a page on Ultimate 411 to request a quote or book a time.
A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 320 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 1 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.
The 320 Service=1 rows in search.local: work on the go, mobile services, where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.
home services
construction
services
events
healthcare
pets
beauty
luxury
sporting goods
sports
business
outdoors
spas
travel
Schools and colleges
wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.
| Institution | Type | Students | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston University | University | — | — |
| Birmingham | University | — | — |
| UCB | College | — | — |
In the business register
Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.
Health and care
What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.
Matched on the name "hospital"
- Bedminster Health Centre — St. John's La, Bedminster
- Farm Road Health Centre — 32 Farm Road
- Oscott Health Centre — 4 Oscott School Lane
- Colehall Health Centre — 1-3 The Corngreaves
- Horrell Road Health Centre — 29 Horrell Road
- Birmingham Childrens Hospital Charities — PO Box 12008
- Birmingham Childrens Hospital N H S Trust — Steelhouse Lane
- Takhar Dental Health Centre — 643 Kingstanding Rd, 44
- Tower Hill Health Centre — 25 Tower Hill
- Highcroft Hospital Staff Social Club — Slade Road
- Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — Pathology Laboratory, Binding Site, B15
- Maypole Health Centre — 10 Sladepool Farm Road
- Broadmeadow Health Centre — Keynell Covert
- Woodbourne Priory Hospital — 21 Woodbourne Rd, B17
- Moseley Hall Hospital — Alcester Road, B13
- 202 Field Hospital Volunteers — Territorial Army Centre
- Mobaral Health Centre — 8-12 Cannon Hill Road
- Moseley Hall Hospital
- Harvey Road Health Centre — Harvey Road
- Aston Health Centre — 175 Trinity Road
- Selly Oak Health Centre — 15 Katie Road
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- The Ley Hill Health Centre — 65 Holloway
- Northfield Health Centre — 15 St. Heliers Road
- Hawkesley Health Centre
- Hawkesley Health Centre — Health Visitors
- Home From Hospital Service — City Hospital NHS Trust
- Laurie Pike Health Centre — 95 Birchfield Road
- BHBN Hospital Radio — Dudley Rd Hosp, B18
- Newtown Health Centre — 171 Melbourne Avenue
- Northcroft Hospital — Reservoir Road; Erdington
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital — 27 Enfield Close
- Selly Oak Hospital — Outpatients Appointments; Oak Tree Lane
- University Hospital Birmingham N H S Trust — Finance Department; P O Box 881
- The Watch Hospital — Unit K17
- The John Black Day Hospital — 4 Maple Leaf Drive
- Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — Research & Teaching Centre, Bristol Rd Sth, Northfield
- Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — Physiotherapy, Bristol Road Sth, Northfield
- Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — Orthotics, Bristol Road Sth, Northfield
- Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust — M.R.I, Bristol Road Sth, Northfield
- Landrover Hospital — Unit 7/Croft Industrial Estate
- Sparkbrook Health Centre — Farm Road
- Chelmsley Hospital — Northgate Centre, Moorend Av, B37
- Tee Vee Hospital — 109 Clements Road
- Wythall Dental Health Centre — 217 Station Rd, Wythall
- Soho Health Centre — Louise Road
geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.
What this record cannot tell you
Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.
- No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
- wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
- No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
- 100.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.
Built from
geonet.birminghamuk— the local business registerwander.regions— city name, population, metrosearch.local— trait vocabulary and the come-to-you servicessearch.cozfranchises— 2,024 franchise brands