France winning race for foreign investors

THE UK lagged behind France in luring foreign investment again last year as Emmanuel Macron fights to win more business from the City.

The gap between the number of foreign investment projects sealed in the UK and France widened after Mr Macron’s drive to entice deals through pro-business policies.

France was the top foreign investment destination in Europe in 2021 with 1,222 projects, up 24pc compared to the year before to mark a record for the region, according to EY’S annual attractiveness survey.

Investments in the UK, meanwhile, were up 1.8pc at 993 projects while Germany was in third place after suffering a 10pc fall to 841 projects.

France stole the UK’S investment crown in 2019 after Mr Macron went on a charm offensive to woo businesses after Brexit, including tax cuts and labour market reform. The French president has made repeated efforts to tempt financial services from London and held investment summits to capitalise on Brexit uncertainty.

Peter Arnold, at EY, said: “Macron has been very successful in showcasing France as a place for inward investment. Since Macron was elected, and post the Brexit vote in 2016, you have seen a stronger showing by France.”

However, EY said the investments secured by the UK were typically larger and created more jobs than France.

Mr Arnold said the gap will narrow between Britain and France as confidence in the UK improves following the Brexit deal. He said: “Certainly since the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was signed, we’ve seen a big increase in the UK’S net attractiveness score. Investors see it as back to where it was pre-brexit.”

Lord Grimstone, investment minister, said the survey showed “the UK’S focus on high value investments with job creation at their heart has been successful”.