Speakers at The Birmingham Real Estate Network event said the trend of businesses reshoring from overseas has resulted in an increase in the demand for skills and suitable space.

Alex Carr, industrial and logistics agency director at Lambert Smith Hampton in Birmingham, said: “The existing supply has been completely exhausted and we are going to face a lot of problems next year.

“Occupiers have this year taken the opportunity to grab the last few available properties and now there is very little left on the market.

“It’s a good time to be a landlord, with rents rising to above £6 per sq ft, but land supply is a major issue and the plans for HS2 have caused us real problems.”

He added that the region as “losing out” to the East Midlands, which has a “good supply of potential sites”.

Other speakers included Aston Business School’s Professor David Bailey and Richard Halstead, regional director of EEF.

The Birmingham Real Estate Network event was jointly hosted by LSH, BDO and law firm Shoosmiths.