Berlin now ranks after Frankfurt as one of the five most popular business locations in Europe

12 Oct, 2011, Frankfurt

• With London in first place, Paris in second place and Frankfurt in third place as the most popular locations in Europe,
• Berlin climbs to fifth place.
• Munich maintains its place in ninth position on the popularity scale.
• Right at the top of the list of expanding locations are: Moscow and Shanghai
• Easy access to markets and customers continues to be an important criterion influencing decision

In 2011 Germany' cities are also counted among the most popular business locations in Europe. Three German cities are among the top ten internationally active locations favoured by entrepreneurs: Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich. As in the previous year the following holds good: No other country has been able to the same extent to acquire so many top business locations

At the top of the rankings, published by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) in the 23rd edition of its European Cities Monitor, as in previous years London has managed to maintain its position. Paris and Frankfurt show great consistency in taking the next two places. For the third year running Berlin has managed to gain two places and now ranks behind Amsterdam in fifth place. This means that the Federal German capital lies once more ahead of the Bavarian State capital, Munich, which was able to retain ninth place for a further year. The loser among German cities is Düsseldorf. The city on the Rhine fell from tenth to fourteenth place. As in the previous year the hanseatic city of Hamburg lies in 15th place. Included among international climbers in the Top Ten are Amsterdam (from sixth to fourth place), Madrid (from eighth to seventh place) and Zürich (from 13th to tenth place). Barcelona has lost ground (from fifth to sixth place), as has Brussels, which has dropped a whole four places to eighth position.

"Alongside the generally good results of the German cities and Frankfurt's traditionally strong performance, when analysing this year's ranking it is worth noting Berlin’s very good placement," comments Martin Brühl, Managing Partner of C&W in Germany. "Berlin has gained global appeal in the interim. A variety of factors in the past year have been instrumental in steadily increasing the reputation of the Federal Republic in the eyes of internationally active entrepreneurs. Among the most significant are its wide-ranging programme of cultural events and the spirit of change and renewal which continues to pervade the city. The capacity of Berlin's universities and technical institutes to attract business must not be underestimated. This mixture, coupled with a tenant-friendly housing market, has allowed Berlin to become an internationally sought-after location for young, highly-educated people. This is a strong location factor for international corporations. A not inconsiderable attraction for them is the favourable conditions for renting on the local office market and the conviction with which Berlin is giving a boost to its economy on the Spree. This recipe should enable Berlin in future years to remain in the top ranks of the most popular business locations in Europe.

The international property consultancy surveys the top management executives with responsibility in the locations in the 501 largest corporations in Europe for the European Cities Monitor. Telephone interviews on the topic, "Best company location in Europe" are conducted by an independent opinion poll institute. The ranking of the 36 most popular locations is calculated from scoring various factors such as market access, transport connections, telecommunications, office space costs, quality of the personnel and staffing costs.

Bucharest is the biggest winner in this year's survey with a leap of eight places from 35th to 27th place. No other city has been able to make such a gain in appreciation in the past twelve months. Helsinki and Istanbul, which improved by four and five places respectively to 26th and 22nd place, are also strong. Just as last year, Rome is the big loser on the international popularity scale. After dropping from 22nd to 28th place in 2010, the Italian capital is now only in penultimate place. Once again the Greek capital, Athens comes in last at 36th place.

Moscow is the most significant target for expansion in Europe; beyond the borders of Europe it is Shanghai

When asked about expansion targets in Inner Europe, 57 decision-makers (2010: 47) replied that they are planning to open a company domicile in Moscow in the next five years. This makes the Russian capital once again a leader in this category. The next places are taken by London and Warsaw. In this category Berlin is the Number One fast climber of 2011: During 2011 twelve companies were planning to expand in the German capital, but this year there are 23 companies. Hamburg was also able to gain in this segment. In 2010 only one expansion strategist mentioned Hamburg as the target, in 2011 eleven of those surveyed chose Hamburg. The greatest decrease in mentions was registered for Istanbul: whereas in the previous year 29 entrepreneurs wanted to expand into the Turkish capital, in 2011 there are only 18; a drop of 38 %.

The number of companies, which can envisage expanding further outside European borders, has risen for the second year in a row. Here, the focus is still on Chinese, Brazilian and Indian cities. Shanghai is in the lead in 1st place, followed by Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Then come New Delhi, Mumbai and Beijing.

Access to markets and customers has once more become an important location criterion

The Top 5 most important location criteria remain unchanged from last year. The most important criterion for deciding on a location is for the third year running easy access to markets and customers. As last year, the availability of a qualified work-force stands in 2nd place. Third and fourth places in the appraisal scale are occupied by the quality of telecommunications facilities and national and international transport connections. In fifth place follows the price-performance ratio of office spaces.

Germany's Top 5 can maintain their position, Berlin really stands to gain.

"The top locations in Germany have once more shown a very good result in the international comparison of countries. No other country is able to register so many placements in the Top 15," says Inga Schwarz, Research Manager with Cushman & Wakefield in Germany. "This is good news. However, a glance at the point score reached at any one time shows that no German location can afford to rest on its laurels. Frankfurt is lying once again in 3rd place in the rankings, but has lost points. The same goes for Munich and of course, for Düsseldorf as well, since it has dropped four places in the appraisal. Hamburg was able to reach both the ranking and the point score of the previous year. Only Berlin was able to gain both in ranking and in appraisal points. This year's report can have only one message for the German cities: The competition does not slumber. There is much to be done."

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