University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) teamed up with Business Birmingham to go on the road in North America with the aim of giving a booster to the city’s life sciences sector.

Companies from across the pond are now lining up to visit Birmingham as a potential location for their new facilities.

The interest in Birmingham follows a roadshow of Canada and the USA by inward investment programme Business Birmingham for two weeks in June 2013. This comprised visits to Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Boston and Cambridge in Massachusetts, and focused on promoting areas of excellence in the city’s life sciences sector.

UHB, working with Business Birmingham, held face-to-face meetings with 18 potential investors, plus representatives from organisations including UK Trade and Investment, that can provide investor leads.

It is the second part of the tour of North America, which aims to raise the city’s profile in its most valuable market for inward investment and attract more overseas companies to the city region. North America accounted for nearly a third (29%) of foreign direct investment projects into Birmingham in 2012/13.

One company from New Jersey took part in a tour of the city last week, while a further three are expected to visit in the summer.

UHB and Business Birmingham also met with hospitals and medical specialists in the USA to share knowledge and form partnerships in areas like patient care and clinical trials. This included trips to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Massachusetts General, and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. With potential investors aiming to win contracts in the UK, discussions also focused on procurement and how to navigate the NHS.

Hilary Fanning, Deputy Director of Delivery at UHB, took part in the roadshow. She said: “Changes to the healthcare system in both the USA and UK mean that we are starting to see an overlap with how hospitals and other medical providers in these two countries are operating. The similar challenges facing both the NHS and the US healthcare sectors have opened up many avenues for joint activity, particularly in Birmingham’s world-leading areas of translational medicine and traumatic injury, as well as life sciences generally.”

Business Birmingham also held a seminar about the city, followed by a networking event, in Boston that was attended by 55 life sciences experts from organisations including MIT.

Marek Dobrowolski is an Investment Manager at Business Birmingham, which is operated by Marketing Birmingham. He explained that the focus on life sciences has come at the right time for the city: “Despite its huge potential for driving the local economy forward, Birmingham’s life sciences sector is still largely untapped by investors. Initiatives such as the Edgbaston Medical Quarter are creating the infrastructure to welcome these companies to the city, from small spin-outs to global pharmas. We’re now working to fill this space with investors that will be able to create new, skilled jobs for the local workforce and help to realise the full potential of this industry.”

In Business Birmingham’s pipeline, 7% of potential investment projects are from the life sciences sector. Dobrowolski added: “Birmingham has a strong business case for life sciences companies looking to set up a base in Europe. It offers the very best in clinical facilities and academic expertise; comprehensive transport links; proximity to London; and a large, diverse local population. The investors we spoke to during the roadshow now want to experience Birmingham for themselves – and seeing the city should prove that this is the best location for their businesses.”