Inward Investment report 2010/11

Andrew Levi UKTI’s Managing Director, Business introduces the report on UK inward investment activity for the year ending March 2011.

During the year ending March 2011 the UK received 1,434 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. More than 94,500 jobs were associated with these investments. Compared to the previous year, associated jobs are up. Project numbers are down - even so, this is one of the highest levels of FDI projects ever recorded in the United Kingdom

Underlining the United Kingdom’s status as a springboard for global growth, FDI came from 54 source countries – a repeat of the previous year’s record performance. Other highlights include:

• The USA remains by far the biggest source of investment projects, accounting for 27 per cent of all investment and almost 40 per cent of created or safeguarded jobs.

• Associated jobs were up for the majority of our leading investor economies.

• Project numbers were down for many countries, but there were increases for markets such as India, Canada, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

• Among the high growth markets, India and China are still the two principal sources of inward investment by project numbers.

• The rest of the top twelve source countries are mainly the major developed economies, highlighting their continued importance to the United Kingdom.

UK Trade & Investment has been highly active over the period of this report. We have continued substantially to increase the quantity and quality of our foreign direct investment delivery, working closely with a wide range of partners – Government and private sector - in the United Kingdom and overseas. During the year to March 2011, UK Trade & Investment was involved in 849 FDI projects, another record, and well over half of all FDI projects arriving in the country during the year.

UK Trade & Investment has been implementing a new structure to manage our service to inward investors following the decision to disband the regional development agencies in England. Working with a private sector partner, we have created a new “FDI Hub”, coming into full service as this report is published – a key part of an enhanced, national inward investment service working closely with the economic development authorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, alongside London and the local enterprise partnerships being formed across England.

We are determined to continue to provide investors with an ever better service – helping ensure that the United Kingdom retains and strengthens a long-standing leadership position in the global competition to attract and grow high quality inward investment.