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A great place to do business

Are you thinking of investing, setting up or moving your business to Biel/Bienne? Here are some of the advantages that our city offers as a business location.

«In terms of appeal, Biel/Bienne is now on par with any major European urban centre. Young people are moving here to live and work because they love the city’s creative, innovative spirit. [...]»

Nick Hayek Jr, CEO Swatch Group (Swissinfo, 03.10.2019)

Your time is precious. Contact our business assistance service directly – we’d be delighted to discuss your plans with you (Economic promotion)

Biel/Bienne, the tenth largest city in Switzerland and a global centre of watch-making expertise, offers essential services that will help bring your entrepreneurial projects to fruition. For the past 20 years, leaders have focused on improving the city’s business framework. It excels as a location for industrial, advanced technology and innovation-focused businesses, and is also home to a whole range of creative and service companies benefiting from Biel/Bienne's status as Switzerland's largest bilingual city.

vue détaillée d'un mouvement horloger

Biel/Bienne is in the ascendancy, standing out as one of Switzerland's most up-and-coming cities. Its population as well as the job opportunities are increasing. What's more, public bodies and the private sector are investing heavily in the city. Major development projects to improve living standards have been set in motion in recent years.

Here are some of Biel/Bienne’s advantages as a business location:

Manufacturing expertise and the presence of world-class companies

International outlook

Leading-edge infrastructure for innovation and training

A highly qualified workforce that speaks French, German and other languages

Land reserves

Manufacturing expertise and the presence of world-class companies

Biel/Bienne – centre for precision engineering in the Jura crescent.

Biel/Bienne is an extremely vibrant business centre thanks to its dense and varied industrial base and the diverse end markets of its manufacturers. Its businesses and other stakeholders have successfully made the switch into the digital era. The city hosts the leading names of the Swiss watch-making industry (Omega, Rolex, Swatch), together with countless small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in high-end manufacturing.

Many world-renowned companies from the following sectors have contributed to Biel/Bienne’s reputation as a manufacturing centre:

  • watchmaking
  • medtech
  • automotive
  • aerospace
  • mechanical engineering

It possesses impressive industrial know-how in the following future-oriented areas:

  • precision engineering – microtechnology, microelectronics, micromechanics
  • 4th industrial revolution, industrial IoT and 3D printing
  • media and information technology

These industrial capabilities are backed up by a superior-calibre ecosystem of service businesses in the creative (design, architecture, graphics) and communication industries.

International outlook

Biel/Bienne – creative spirit and global focus.

The Swiss Midlands is the second-largest export base in Switzerland, thanks to its manufacturing and technological prowess, a highly developed international business network and an outward-looking, creative mindset.

Leading-edge infrastructure for innovation and training

Biel/Bienne – an ecosystem fostering innovation and technological transfers into the economy.

Innovative infrastructure has set the scene for productive partnerships between high-tech companies, training bodies, and the private sector (manufacturers and service providers).

At the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB), over 10,000 m2 are devoted to applied research. From basic idea to prototype production, the SIPBB and its facilities have placed in-house R&D expertise and high-grade engineering services at the disposal of local companies – including its chemistry, electronics, X-ray and laser, mechanics/prototyping and additive manufacturing labs.

The SIPBB’s research and development units are:

Industrial R&D projects developed in tandem with the SIPBB may qualify for Innosuisse funding.

The SIPBB and the new Biel/Bienne campus of the Bern University of Applied Sciences are expected to bring over 650 scientists and 2,000 students to the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw away from the lake.

Additionally, Biel/Bienne offers a vast range of training tracks through the Bern University of Applied Sciences and the Biel-Bienne Vocational College. Postgraduate in-service training (at certificate, diploma or master’s level) and skills upgrading courses are also widely available. Supplementing the training possibilities available in the region are the universities of Neuchâtel and Bern, reachable in 15 and 30 minutes by train, respectively.

A high-quality, specialist workforce

Biel/Bienne – as the largest bilingual city in Switzerland – gives companies an edge when recruiting qualified personnel.

People in Biel/Bienne generally speak both French and German (and often other languages as well). This is rare, even in Switzerland, and makes the city a niche provider of personnel. Because of its university-level training institutes and vocational colleges, Biel/Bienne can offer companies a vast pool of talent and skilled labour.

Land available for development

Many types of premises and over 150,000 m2 of land plots in industrial areas and prime districts are available for new or existing companies looking to set up operations here or to expand.

This land, all of which is well situated and easily reachable by road or rail, will place your company alongside the leading names of the Swiss precision and watch-making industries – a dynamic urban environment from which your company will be able to benefit. A majority of these industrial land reserves are owned by the city of Biel/Bienne, and are offered under leasehold at preferential conditions.

The Bözingenfeld industrial zone is a key business location for the canton of Bern where companies can take root and develop.

«An ideal place for high-tech.», Nicola Thibaudeau, CEO, MPS Micro Precision Systems S.A.