Birmingham's explosive industrial expansion started earlier than that of the textile-manufacturing towns of the North of England,[55] and was driven by different factors. Instead of the economies of scale of a low-paid, unskilled workforce producing a single bulk commodity such as cotton or wool in large, mechanised units of production, Birmingham's industrial development was built on the adaptability and creativity of a highly paid workforce with a strong division of labour, practising a broad variety of skilled specialist trades and producing a constantly diversifying range of products, in a highly entrepreneurial economy of small, often self-owned workshops.[56] This led to exceptional levels of inventiveness: between 1760 and 1850 – the core years of the Industrial Revolution – Birmingham residents registered over three times as many patents as those of any other British town or city.[57]
The demand for capital to feed rapid economic expansion also saw Birmingham grow into a major financial centre with extensive international connections.[58] Lloyds Bank was founded in the town in 1765,[59] and Ketley's Building Society, the world's first building society, in 1775.[60] By 1800 the West Midlands had more banking offices per head than any other region in Britain, including London.[58]