Region still leading for foreign business
The West Midlands has retained its position as the UK’s leading region outside London and the South East for attracting foreign direct investment.
The Department for International Trade’s latest official figures show that 157 new FDI projects were recorded in the region during the year to the end of March.
The West Midlands accounted for eight per cent of the UK’s total projects and t number of new, associated jobs created totalled 3,883 with an additional 2,220 jobs safeguarded.
Matt Hammond, chairman of the West Midlands Growth Company, the region’s official inward investment agency, said: “The latest figures from the Department for International Trade reinforce the West Midlands as one of the UK’s most important regions to drive economic growth.
"Despite a period of unprecedented trade disruption globally, the region’s inherent industry strengths and critical mass of talent have assured our ability to successfully compete on the world stage.
“We are proactively showcasing the region’s expertise in future mobility, digital healthcare and sustainable construction to promote our leading role in a more resilient, inclusive and decarbonised future.
Buoyant
"Additionally, the region’s hosting of major global events in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Coventry City of Culture 2021 will be fully maximised as part of our enhanced investment strategy targeting the Commonwealth markets.
“It is clear the post Covid-19 downturn in many areas of cross-border investment will continue into next year.
"Our revised FDI strategy therefore needs to consider the West Midlands’ most vulnerable target sectors in addition to how it will grow its most buoyant.”
The leading sectors for attracting investment were advanced manufacturing, automotive, software and computer services and business and consumer services.
Last year dairy giant Müller created 65 new jobs as part of a £50 million expansion at its Telford manufacturing facility. The investment of the site at Donnington Wood saw it double in size, increasing the capacity at the factory to 500 million yogurt pots each year.
