Cranes dominate Birmingham’s city centre skyline. The city, scarred by the collapse 10 years ago of Rover’s giant car production plant at Longbridge, which employed 25,000 people at its peak, is now one of the fastest growing in the UK.

Last month, HSBC became the latest financial services firm to choose Birmingham as the new location for its UK retail and business bank. It's not difficult to see why - pay rates and property costs are lower than in London and increasing numbers of people are prepared to relocate from London, taking advantages of lower property prices.