Overseas investment boosts local economy
The West Midlands enjoyed higher levels of foreign investment than at any other time in the last decade in 2014 – with Shropshire playing a key role.
The 65 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the region represented a 38 per cent increase on the same point in 2013, according to new research by accounting giant Ernst and Young.
Shropshire contributed seven of those projects, with four in Telford, one in Wellington, and one each in Shrewsbury and Oswestry.
That figure eclipsed the neighbouring Black Country, where foreign investors chose to back only three projects – one each in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell.
Birmingham was the third best performing location outside London, with 15 projects – but Telford in particular compares favourably to its more decorated city neighbours.
Sara Fowler, senior partner at EY in the Midlands, said: "It's been an exceptional year for the West Midlands with record project numbers creating more jobs, which has contributed to 2014 being the most successful year for the region in a decade."
Among the projects which have seen cash injected into Shropshire's economy, wheelie bin maker Craemer and food giant Heinz have both invested in their operations Telford's Hortonwood Industrial Estate.
Two of the Telford projects come from Japanese print business Ricoh, which has opened a multi-million pound Customer Experience Centre and Smart Factory at its Priorslee base.
Telford won the right to host it over other centres in European cities such as Barcelona and Dusseldorf.
Arla Foods is investing in Oswestry, having announced last year that it was to spend £9 million on upgrading its site in the town to add a new cheese packaging facility.
Graham Wynn, chairman of the Marches LEP, said: "Large global names that include food manufacturers Arla and Heinz, and manufacturers Craemer and Ricoh, all of which have further their investments over the last year, demonstrate the wide appeal that Shropshire has to foreign investors and I feel sure that we'll continue to see further interest from overseas companies in the year to come."
Like many other areas of the UK, the US was the most important source of FDI for the West Midlands in 2014.
But over 10 years, the West Midlands has secured a lower proportion of its projects from the US than the UK as a whole.
