I think that a lot of things which should be part of a pilots development might get missed. Birmingham did seem well located. It was busy airspace, it often needed a SVFR clearance to enter or exit the control zone, students had a busy time in the circuit and most instructors seemed to enjoy going with the student towards the end of the PPL for lunch in France.
MATZ crossing and penetration techniques was easily dealt with by a cross country to the east, a trip into Wales dealt with appreciation of hilly terrain and the route to Le Touquet from Birmingham built confidence.
Birmingham was / is not unique, it just takes a CFI who thinks out of the box rather than just working to the syllabus minimums and plans some interesting "points" to enhance the PPL course.
It was not uncommon to see someone after finishing the PPL have enough confidence to plan a weekend trip with their mates to Jersey or Dublin.
Of course a good club will always be keen to hone a PPL's skills after the licence is granted, group flying trips to interesting airfields in the club aircraft, planned weekends away, club lunch runs, treasure hunts etc all add to make a "club" rather than just a pure commercial venture. In my opinion that is more likely to be a long term sustainable business entity and will encourage spending of money post PPL.