Stoke-on-Trent City Council representatives have been awarded one of the fDi Magazine’s European Cities of the Future Awards in front of some of Europe’s most influential developers and investors.
The awards, which are being handed out at the prestigious MIPIM event in Cannes – attended by more than 19,000 property leaders, put Stoke-on-Trent 6th in the top ten European Micro cities for infrastructure.
Councillor Mark Meredith, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cabinet member for economic development, who received the award, said: “To be standing here in MIPIM in front of such prestigious and influential investors and developers receiving this award is a huge coup for Stoke-on-Trent. It shows to businesses and potential investors that our city is very much open for business and that our infrastructure and location in particular make it a prime location to invest.”
This year three representatives from Stoke-On-Trent City Council are in attendance at MIPIM to meet potential investors and raise the city’s profile with some of Europe’s biggest and most influential business figures.
The award will help to highlight at the event the city’s potential for investment.
The fDi Magazine Cities and Regions of the Future awards are created from an independent collection of data by fDi Benchmark across 223 European cities and 142 European regions. This information is set under six categories: economic potential, human resources, cost effectiveness, quality of life, infrastructure and business friendliness. They look at everything from the cost effectiveness of office space, number of graduates and universities, population growth, number of businesses in knowledge-intensive sectors and spend on research and development.
Stoke-on-Trent’s award recognises both the city’s transport links and the number of destinations in Europe that Stoke-on-Trent serves.
The city, which is under-going a £1.5billion transformation with major retail and office led developments in the city centre, has strong transport links with four international airports an hour away and direct train connections to London within an hour and a half.
The city is also home to a number of business headquarters including Michelin, FedEx UK, Phones 4U and Bet365 and serves a number of high profile businesses such as RBS, Portmerion, Converteam and Vodafone.
For a full listing of the awards please go to www.fDiIntelligence.com/Rankings.
