Birmingham
Birmingham is a city situated in the centre of England. Due to the fact that it is located inland it is a major transport link whether travelling by rail, air or by road, 'Spaghetti Junction' is probably the best known motorway junction in the UK and is located just outside of Birmingham. National Express is also due to move its coach Headquarters to the city shortly. Birmingham has an airport which is situated in one of the Boroughs of the City, Solihull, which is on the east side of the city. This airport is the 6th largest in the UK and, because of its central location, is very popular with business users. The only airport to have more people using it for this purpose is Heathrow. The main railway station for the city is Birmingham New Street station and there is also a large rail based 'park and ride' type system that operates from the outskirts of the city in the city centre.
Birmingham is a very popular shopping destination and the malls and stores of the city have undergone something of a regeneration in recent years with the construction of 'The Bullring' shopping mall as well as a new look for department store Selfridges (only one outside of London) and House of Frazer. The city is also home to the ever-popular 'jewellery quarter', which still makes over 40% of all the jewellery sold in the UK today.
In total, in less than 10 years the city has spent more than £9 billion on regeneration projects. Birmingham is also home to the largest financial districts outside of the London capital. It also accounts for more wealth than Glasgow, Manchester or Leeds and its busy manufacturing trades make up 25% of British exports.
30% of Birmingham is from other cultural or racial backgrounds and every year it holds a massive St Patrick's Day parade which is the 3rd largest in the world behind Dublin and New York. Birmingham is also well known for chocolate as it was here in the early part of the 1800's that George Cadbury started making chocolate. Cadbury's chocolates are still among the worlds favourites and there is a 'Cadbury World' site outside of the city to visit, explore the chocolate making process and of course enjoy the chocolate!