Without doubt Birmingham has grabbed the initiative and is challenging all the regional cities, notably Manchester, in a bid to be the top business venue outside London.
The question is whether its closeness to London is an advantage or a disadvantage, although the relocation of a large number of HSBC employees to the city seems to indicate a plus to the location. As with so many cities, new transport links are playing a major part in the improvement, in this case with a new tram line, rebuilt New Street Station and the future with HS2.
But it is at the core of the commercial property market that the success is coming with rents rising and both a buoyant city centre office market and a revived M42 business park scene. The strong performance of the parks around Solihull says a great deal about the depth of the recovery and attractions of the Midlands.
That also applies to the East Midlands where Leicester, Derby a,nd Nottingham have got the message about co-operating to give impetus to economic growth through more efficient control of transport and other services. The West Midlands has already embarked on this process.
The local government revolution being engineered by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has a long way to go but it just might have a real impact in the major regional cities and bring more efficient structures and faster economic growth. And that would be good for the commercial property market.