City is a top destination for foreign funds
GREATER MANCHESTER CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE REGION IN TERMS OF FDI ATTRACTING 70 PROJECTS IN THE LAST YEAR
MANCHESTER remains a top destination for foreign direct investment in the region outside of the capital.
According to EY’s latest UK Attractiveness Survey, the north west region attracted 90 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2016 – 60 per cent of which were first time investments in the region from international investors.
But Greater Manchester continues to dominate the region in terms of FDI attracting 70 projects.
Cheshire secured nine FDI projects in 2016 and Merseyside eight projects.
Once again Manchester topped the UK league tables as the city attracting most FDI outside of London in 2016, with 47 projects, compared to 20 in Birmingham and 12 in Leeds.
These include US-based XPO Logistics taking over 237,000 sq ft of warehouse space in Trafford Park. Jonckers, a Belgium-based translation services, expanded its UK operation with a Manchester office, while Israeli firms Fibonatix, a fintech specialist, and advertising agency Sanabil Digital launched offices in Manchester and Salford respectively.
Financial & business services, and manufacturing investors dominated FDI in the region with 36 and 35 projects respectively.
The majority of investment in the region came from European Economic Area (EEA) – with 42 projects coming from this trade area – followed by North America with 27 projects.
On an individual country basis, the USA was the biggest investor in the north west region with 25 projects, followed by Germany and France, who both brought in 10 projects. There were four projects apiece from Israel, Denmark and Australia. In all, the survey said FDI in the north west was generated from 26 different countries across the globe. Bob Ward, North West Senior Partner at EY said: “The work that has taken place to position the North West, and indeed, the whole of the North of England, as a strong investment location in the global marketplace is starting to pay off. “These figures show that the international investment community sees the potential in the region, with its access to the right skills, infrastructure and strong supply chain networks.”
The international investment community sees the potential in the region Bob Ward, north west senior partner, EY