Wouter Schuitemaker

Business Birmingham’s investment director, Wouter Schuitemaker, shares his plans for driving further inward investment to Birmingham.

The role of Investment Director is crucial to the future of the city - what particular strengths and experience do you have which will help position Birmingham as a vital business destination on the international stage?

Before joining the Business Birmingham team I was Head of Asia Pacific operations at Think London. The total investment from Asia Pacific into London alone accounts for 20% of all FDI into the UK.

The team under my management delivered high profile investments by financial institutions including China International Capital Corporation, China Merchants Bank and Religare Securities as well as and strong investment from ICT companies including Wipro Infotech, Panasonic, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and the relocation of Canon Europe’s headquarters from Amsterdam which I personally managed.

Before joining Think London, I spent 10 years in the media communications and marketing industry in Japan working for the country’s largest market research company, INTAGE. My role as International Account Director included projects for P&G, Tesco, Gillette and Unilever. I’ve also worked at leading brand consultancies Enterprise IG (WPP Group) and Interbrand (Omnicom Group) as a Corporate Identity Consultant where clients included Four Seasons Hotels, Hitachi, Nissan, Pentax and Sharp amongst others.

Can you tell us why Business Birmingham has chosen to specialise in specific sectors rather than trying to attract investment from all businesses?

Marketing Birmingham commissioned IBM PLI to undertake extensive research to identify which sectors offered the most significant opportunities for growth in Birmingham over the next three years. The research identified the following:

• Shared Service Centres and Business Process Outsourcing
• Financial Services
• Public Sector functions
• Transport technologies
• Developing sectors including: Low carbon R&D, Digital media, Life sciences

Birmingham has strong stories to tell in all of these sectors. By building on the experience from within the sector specialist invest team and the city itself, Business Birmingham is committed to driving further growth in these areas and improving the prosperity of the region as a whole. Business Birmingham is now undertaking further research to drill down into each sector to understand the city’s specific strengths and unique selling points to attract additional investment opportunities.

Our targeted strategy to raise awareness of the city’s offering in each sector, to both potential investors and their advisors, has already led to some notable successes. A recent example of the success of this approach is the announcement that the Solicitor’s Regulatory Authority will be relocating to Birmingham from its two existing sites, bringing approximately 600 jobs to the city.

What experience does Birmingham have in attracting international businesses from each of these sectors and how will your own background help to achieve this aim?

My career to date has focussed on working with international organisations, building up a knowledge and understanding of what it is that these companies are looking for to inform their location decisions.

Since 2003, Birmingham has received more capital investment and created more jobs as a result of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) than any other UK city excluding London and is on track to outperform other UK cities in 2011. This record gives us a strong base to build on and I aim to bring my own experience to drive further growth.

Marketing a destination is similar to marketing any other product or service. You need to identify its key USPs and clearly communicate the benefits your product or service has to offer to your target audience. I am lucky that Birmingham benefits from a host of existing factors put in place before my appointment which will help to make our job easier. From the existing established support networks, advanced technological infrastructure including superfast broadband to the amount and cost of Grade A office space – not to mention its geographical location and transport links.

A host of influential international organisations are already benefitting from having a presence in Birmingham and the wider LEP area including SAIC, Deutsche Bank, Sega and German low carbon companies, Juwi and Gehrlicher Solar. We’re confident these existing examples will be joined by a significant number of big names over the next few years.

What is Business Birmingham doing to build awareness of Birmingham’s proposition for the target sectors?

To target new investors, the Business Birmingham team is initially rolling out a twelve month strategy. We have identified key events throughout the year which we believe offer relevant opportunities for the team to raise awareness of Birmingham’s proposition to potential investors in all identified sectors. This involves sponsorship, speaker slots, one to one meetings and workshop facilitation.

Business Birmingham is engaging with key individuals in each target sector to ensure it offers comprehensive support packages, for both new and existing investors, tailored to each industry’s needs. This support covers a host of business decisions from providing up to the minute information on available office space to support with sourcing funding streams and help with marketing and PR.

What achievement are you most proud of since joining Business Birmingham?

Business Birmingham has attracted more inward investment in the first six months of 2011, than its predecessor in the whole of 2010. The pipeline across all sectors is looking strong and the whole invest team is proud of the impact Business Birmingham has made so far.

And finally, as a newcomer to the city – what is your favourite thing about Birmingham?

Having spent a significant proportion of my career based in Tokyo and then London, I am really impressed with lots of aspects of the city. Everything is within easy reach of the city centre and the amount and diversity of leisure activities on offer is great. I particularly enjoy the city’s numerous fine dining establishments and am currently working my way through them one by one!

Say hello to Wouter at wouter.schuitemaker@marketingbirmingham.com