West Midlands Statistics Fact File

1) Foreign Investment: 1,900 foreign companies based in WM

2) Historic: Home of the Industrial Revolution

3) Major companies based here include: British Telecom, Cadbury Trebor Bassett, GKN Plc, Jaguar Cars,

4) Leading foreign investor countries: USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden.

5) Population: Over 7 million within one hours drive from Birmingham.

6) Birmingham International Airport - 2nd largest and fastest growing airport in the UK.

7) Largest shopping area second only to London.

8) 60% of all new housing utilises old industrial land.

9) Important Industry and Service Sectors: Automotive, electronics, food and drink, service industry, software and ICT.

10) London 2 hours by rail or by car.

11) The West Midlands is a major distribution centre.

12) Famous People Albert Austin, Sir Michael Balcon, John Baskerville, Black Sabbath, Matthew Boulton, James Brindley, Jane Bunford, Edward Burne-Jones, George Cadbury, Duran Duran, Electric Light Orchestra, Nigel Mansell, Neville Chamberlain, Joseph Chamberlain, Sid Field, Tony Hancock, Washington Irving, Alexander Issigonis, Joseph Priestley, Ocean Colour Scene, Spice Girls, Thomas Telford, J R Tolkein, James Watt, UB40.

13) Partner towns and cities Chicago | Frankfurt | Johhanesburg | Milan | Leipzig | Lyon |

14) Major Accountancy firms: Price Waterhouse Coopers, Arthur Anderson, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche.

15) Major Solicitors: Eversheds, Gateley Wareing, Martineau Johnson, Pinsent Curtis, Wragge & Co.

16) Road Network: M5, M6, M42 and M40.

17) West Midland is home to the National Exhibition Centre which attracts 42% of the UK's conference business.

18) Population: 1,020,000

19) Workforce: 630,000

20) Largest employment sector: Manufacturing

21) Major Employers: British Telecom, Birmingham Cable, Cadbury's, Direct Line Insurance, Jaguar cars, LDV Vanmakers, Lucas, Rover.

22) Ethnic Origin: White 754,274 (78.5%), Pakistani 66,085 (6.9%), Indian 51,075 (5.3%), Black Caribbean 44,770 (4.7%), Bangladeshi 12,739 (1.3%), Black 11,606 (1.2%), Other non whites 20,492 (2.1%).

23) Tallest Buildings: BT Telecom Tower 500m, Alpha Tower 328m, Cleveland Tower 295m, Clydesdale 295m and the Rotunda at 265m.

24) Birmingham alone attracts 22 million visitors a year who spend £760 million.

25 Star City near junction 6 of the M6 is the largest cinema complex in Europe.

26 More parks than any other UK city.

Note: Some of this information may be out of date