Nov 04, 2011
London, Paris and Frankfurt are still sitting in the top 3 ranks according to the annual survey by Cushman & Wakefield of the Top 500 European firms and the choice of their future locations in 2011. It has analyzed 12 main factors considered as essential and compared the performance of the 36 European large cities chosen for various factors such as quality of live, easy access to markets, cost of qualified staff...
Two new cities are sitting among the Top Five, Amsterdam and Berlin, and replace Barcelona and Brussels. Zurich moved back in the Top Ten since 2008 while Dusseldorf, present for the first time in 2010, fell back from 10th to 14th position. However, German cities remain very attractive for investors: Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich sit among the Top Ten.
In 2011, Bucharest is the biggest riser moving up 8 places from 35th to 27th position for reduced costs of staff while Rome fell from 28th to 35th. Paris consolidates its position as the second most attractive city behind London and as Europe’s 3rd city making the largest efforts to grow its visibility and improve its image. But it may be downgraded for the increasing reduction of office space availability in Paris area, quality of life for employees… As concern future locations of firms over the next 5 years, Moscow remains the most attractive with 57 firms compared with 47 in 2010. This year, it moved up from 19th to 11th position thanks to the very strong growth of consumer spending and the important potential of regional cities beyond Moscow and St-Petersburg.
Worldwide, European firms rank the BRIC economies as strategic destinations overt the next 5 years: Shanghai, Rio, Sao Paulo, New Delhi, Bombay and Beijing. Shanghai is the most popular, New Delhi moved back to 4th position and Rio de Janeiro moved up. Buenos Aires also registered a higher number of firms interested for their expansion projects replacing Cairo in the Top Ten.
