Imperial vs Birmingham chemical engineering

The reason why I put the industry focus as a con is because I'm considering doing a PhD but you're right it definitely is a pro for people who want to go into industry (btw the chem eng course at Bath purely focuses on preparing you for industry which is why I'm only considering it for my insurance. At least at Birmingham there's a nice balance between industry and research focus).

The university of birmingham, being a campus uni, isn't situated right in the city centre but rather in a suburb called Edgbaston, so you don't get that daunting feel of having to navigate through a city to get to uni but the city centre is easily accessible from the uni which is good. I'm not overly concerned about finances as I'm fortunate enough to rely on the bank of mum and dad but I would be spending more than double for accommodation in london. My main concern is whether I'd enjoy my time at imperial if I went there. I heard that the large population of international students make it quite difficult for home students to keep up because their level of maths is often miles ahead of ours. I'd much rather get a 1st at birmingham than a 2:2 at imperial. Especially if i want to do a phd. When applying for postgraduate courses, unis don't give a damn about where you went for undergrad. They only care about your academic performance i.e. your degree classification (so I've been told). I could be a star student at Birmingham and an average student at Imperial by putting in the same amount of effort. I'd much rather be the former. Of course, for industry, prestige does play a role in getting jobs however imperial don't offer a year in industry for chem eng for some reason (they do for other courses). A guy from astrazeneca gave a talk at my sixth form and he said having a year in industry carries soo much more weight than going to a top uni and not having any industrial experience. So there's always that to consider.
Right now I'm 90% leaning towards Birmingham. My plan is to go to birmingham for undergrad, have a good time there and grow as a person. Then I'll apply for PhD positions at several top unis (Cambridge, Imperial, MIT, Stanford etc.). By then I would be a lot more mature and should be able to cope in a more academically intense environment. I'm basing this plan off my dad's life. He studied maths at Bedford College London which doesn't exist anymore. Then he did his phd at imperial and had the best time of his life (he actually started his PhD at Oxford and dropped out after a year for personal reasons). He said had he gone to imperial or Oxford for undergrad, he definitely wouldn't cope. Any thoughts?

sorry to interrupt. I am a 2021 applicant for chemical engineering. I am considering Bath, how did you know they purely focus on preparing students into industry? Did you get this information from their website or was it during open days? Sadly, open days are not available... I don't seem to be able to find this information on their website. Your help will be very much appreciated! Thank you

As the UCAS deadline to confirm uni choices is approaching, I still can't decide which one to firm out of Imperial and Birmingham for chem eng
Pros of Imperial:
-The prestige
-The chem eng research there looks super interesting although I'm not sure whether there'd be many research opportunities as an undergraduate
-Some of the modules in years 3 and 4 look more interesting

Cons of Imperial
- London is expensive. Have to find your own place from 2nd year which will be super expensive and probably at least 30 mins from uni by tube
-Academically intense atmosphere
-Living in London can be quite daunting

Pros of Birmingham
-Good domestic reputation for chem eng (albeit not as good as Imperial's but still up there)
-Would probably enjoy my time there a lot more than at Imperial
-More relaxing and friendly atmosphere
-Cheaper cost of living

Cons of Birmingham
-Less prestige especially internationally speaking
-Seems to be focused a lot more on industry although has some decent research
-Would always hate myself for turning down Imperial

Any thoughts on the matter will be much appreciated!