Home of Original Storytelling

The West Midlands is centrally located, super-connected and in the heart of the UK

By order of the Peaky Blinders

Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders

Home of Shakespeare and Tolkien, storytellers who changed the world with their words. Now our storytellers create global hits for film, television and games.

Home of the Peaky Blinders and Benjamin Zephaniah; much loved original formats like the Nativity franchise, Citizen Khan, Travel Man, Guy Martin, Great British Menu and The Bad Skin Clinic.

Home to a host of iconic locations from medieval castles, to 19th century factories, futuristic cityscapes and quintessentially English villages. Discover a world in one region (download PDF production brochure).

University of Wolverhampton Screen School

The future of creative content is already here: it’s a world of digital platforms, short-form content and agile production methods. The West Midlands is already a proving ground for a new kind of digital production infrastructure adapted to meet those needs, with a £50m large scale 5G Testbed underpinning this evolution.

The West Midlands’ cluster of videogames companies, stretching from Leamington Spa to Wolverhampton, is an example of the way in which “smart specialisation” can create a globally renowned and internationally competitive sector.

The AAA games companies and independent studios anchored around Leamington’s ‘Silicon Spa’ don’t just design world class games – they also develop games engines and digital toolchains for production and distribution.

esports players

Image courtesy of ESL

This has attracted waves of investment to the region, with global publishers such as Ubisoft, SEGA (Hardlight) and Microsoft (Rare) joining indigenous superstars like Codemasters. 3D modelling and motion capture, AR, IR and VR content generation and simulation facilities are based at Coventry University.

The industry provides a perfect catalyst for development of new forms of virtual and augmented reality. Birmingham is home to the UK’s only chapter of VRARA (an international trade association for VR and AR companies) outside London.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest, working with Intel and Imaginarium Studios, saw a play first performed in 1611 make history with the first digital avatar on stage.

360 image of Ozzy the Bull at the Commonwealth Games

Photo by @MrASingh

The West Midlands went global like no other UK region in history. We hosted Coventry City of Culture and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. We won both events because of our compelling commitment to reimagine culture and sport in a diverse, modern Britain – not just for the next few years, but as part of a legacy that will enable future generations.

In the West Midlands, the broadest pool of talent, ideas and resources is suddenly on your doorstep. We have a working age talent pool of more than 1.8 million people, from a vast array of different backgrounds, our region has the most ethnically diverse population outside the capital.

The eight universities across the West Midlands are vital to our vibrant creative ecosystem. They have strong links with the creative sector across visual arts, designer makers, graphics, film, TV & audio production, VR/AI, animation and gaming.

We are also home to organisations developing diverse creative talent outside of formal education – like the multi-ward winning Beatfreeks, Positive Youth Foundation and Powered By CAN.

The Black Country Living Museum

The West Midlands is the best connected region in the UK. We are at the heart of the rail network and an outward-facing, international region thanks to Birmingham Airport. We are within two hours of half the UK population, and within a four-hour drive of 90% of the UK market, including other major cities. Fast, direct and regular trains bring people into our region every day, and provide those based here with the widest reach and the greatest access.

The West Midlands offers an excellent quality of life at the geographic and economic heart of the UK. That’s why more people who leave London come to our towns and cities than any other region in the UK.

Watch a play in Shakespeare’s birthplace; take in a concert at the world-famous Birmingham Symphony Hall; eat in Michelin starred restaurants; explore castles; enjoy festivals; visit world-class museums.

The West Midlands offers amazing cultural experiences. Recent years have seen a cultural shift in the West Midlands, with a fast-growing culinary scene and new art galleries opening in Walsall, Coventry and Birmingham. It’s just the beginning, with Wolverhampton’s city centre undergoing a £1billion transformation, the legacy of Coventry City of Culture and of Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games. With good schools, affordable housing and a wealth of green open space, many businesses wanting an excellent quality of life for their teams are looking beyond London to the UK’s new growth capital.

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