Insider Media Limited

Birmingham must be able to promote itself as an attractive investment to overseas investors, according to KPMG’s new office senior partner in the city. Mike Steventon told Insider that securing overseas investment would be “key” to reviving the city’s economy. He also discussed the revival of manufacturing giant GKN, and said that the company was now looking to grow through acquisitions.

Prior to his appointment, Steventon held a number of senior global and national positions with the firm, including head of KPMG automotive.

He said it was important to “support the city’s aspirations and put Birmingham on the map” as an attractive option for investment.

“Birmingham was formerly a stand-alone region as it was homes to hundreds of plcs; now, that number is probably closer to 30. We have to stay well connected to be part of the global agenda,” he said.

Steventon, who will be working alongside KPMG’s chairman in the Midlands, Steve Hollis, said that securing overseas investment was key to ensuring the city stayed ahead of the competition.

“A good example is Jaguar Land Rover,” he said. “It has an overseas owner in Tata Motors, and is now a global brand. It had a difficult few years or so, when it faced some real challenges, but has now completely repositioned itself as a power to be reckoned with.”

He added that going forward, the city’s LEP, private sector and councils would have to work in partnership.

“We’re now living in a single job market - the private and public sectors have to work together to deliver a string and attractive future for Birmingham. We have a very strong professional market – legal, finance property; they’re a great community.”

Looking forward, Steventon said he expected 2011 and 2012 to be the years which would see “organisations become stronger through acquisitions”.

“Look at GKN for example – the company had a challenging time through the recession, but it had a look at cost structures and weathered the economic downturn. Now, the company is looking to get stronger through growth enhancing acquisitions,” said Steventon.

“Generally, over the last two or three years, we’ve not seen a raft of acquisitions take place. Companies have had to adapt to survive, and spending was not on the top of many agendas. But we’re now in a much more stable environment. I think this will definitely be the year we see companies grow by acquiring – we’re seeing increased activity KPMG’s due diligence and merger and acquisition teams as evidence of that.”

Steventon added that although he expected the construction industry to face challenges in the coming year, he thought the auto and aerospace markets were “looking up”.

“Things are definitely improving,” he said. “Many manufacturers have survived a harsh winter, and now spring has arrived. As a city, we have a very strong manufacturing platform to push off from.”