Inward Investment: what are the rules of attraction?

11 Mar

A number of studies have suggested that recent investment into the UK, particularly greenfield in production predominantly to be exported, has been lower than would have been expected. In some sectors we saw a 90% decline specifically in that type of investment between 2016 and 2020, and that while there had been some recovery more recently, this remained disappointing and had not made up for the previous shortfall.

Various suggestions have been made as to how to understand the UK inward investment picture. There have been suggestions that the UK is doing much better for services rather than manufacturing investment, that the UK is no longer attractive as a base for sales to Europe, and / or of a shift from greenfield to asset investing, reflecting that the UK is still regarded as a safe haven. London in particular remains attractive to investors. While interpretations differ, there is general agreement that a healthy UK economy requires a far stronger greenfield inward investment picture than is currently the case.

Featured

Eman Martin-Vignerte

Director External affairs and government relations at Bosch UK.

She holds B.S and M.S. degrees in electrical and Medical engineering from the University of Paderborn/Ulm, Germany. She was responsible for business development for telehealth in UK and Ireland. She has more than 6 years of experience in Software and hardware engineering in automotive industry.

She is a board member at BBF (Buckingham Business First); Success Essex Partnership; and she sets on the advisory board for UK5G.

Geeta Nathan

Deputy Director of Innovation Ecosystem Strategy, Innovate UK

As Innovate UK’s Deputy Director for Innovation Ecosystem Strategy, Geeta’s key responsibility is to look across the innovation ecosystem to join up the key players to ensure Innovate UK and its partners are maximizing impact. She leads on design and designing innovation systems.

Until recently Geeta was Innovate UK’s Head of Economics and Insights leading on evaluation and impact, strategic data insights as well as research. Geeta sat on several boards including:the Productivity Institute advisory board; LSE’s Programme on Innovation and diffusion; BEIS’s COVID 19 Evaluation Board; Warwick University’s Global Research Priority Board; Innovation Caucus, Enterprise Research Centre; NESTA’s Innovation Growth Laboratory.

Before joining Innovate UK, Geeta spent 5 years at the Construction Industry Training Board as their Head of Economic insights, lead the of reforming its funding strategy programme and levy strategy. She has also spent 6 years as a sell side economist in a leading Asian brokerage covering emerging markets.

Geeta Started her career as fast stream economist in at the Foreign Commonwealth office covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Vicky Pryce

Chief Economic Adviser and a board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

She was previously Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service. Before that she was Partner at the accounting and consulting firm KPMG after senior economic positions in banking and the oil sector.

She is Visiting Professor at BCU and King’s College, London, is a Fellow and Council member of the UK Academy for Social Sciences, a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists and a Companion of the British Academy of Management.

She is a member of the newly reconstituted Economic Advisory Council of the British Chambers of Commerce , on the Advisory Group of the Betters Statistics CIC, and is co-founder of GoodCorporation, a company set up to advise on business ethics . Her books include: “Greekonomics: The Euro crisis and Why Politicians Don't Get It”; “It's the Economy, Stupid- Economics for Voters”, with Ross and Urwin; Redesigning Manufacturing”, with Nielsen and Beverland”; and “Women vs Capitalism”. Her latest co-authored book, “How to be a Successful Economist”, has just been published by Oxford University Press.

Peter Norris

Chair, Virgin Group and Co-convenor, UK Trade & Business Commission

Peter has chaired Virgin Group since 2009 and currently also acts as chair for Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Hotels as well as for Agilyx AS, a leading chemical recycling company.

He has over 40 years’ experience in business management and investment banking and brings knowledge and understanding of the international economy and impacts on business and international trade.

Juergen Maier

Former Chief Executive, Siemens

Juergen Maier is an Industrialist and the former Chief Executive of Siemens UK, a position he held from July 2014 to December 2019. Over his 33 year career with Siemens he held a number of senior roles within Siemens in the UK and Germany. He built Siemens UK into a R&D led engineering powerhouse, significantly contributing to net zero goals and bringing high value jobs across the UK.

Juergen now Chairs the Digital Catapult and has contributed to the creation of a more focused approach to UK's industrial and innovation strategies. He founded the national Made Smarter programme that is driving industrial digitalisation into UK's manufacturing base and supporting more investment in research and innovation . He advises tech start-up and scale-up businesses which are a key part of the industrial ecosystem creating UK's green 4th Industrial revolution. In that capacity, Juergen chairs the Manchester Graphene Company.

Juergen has received honorary doctorates and professorships from a number of UK Universities including visiting professorships at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Nottingham Trent University.

Questions under discussion

In what sectors should the UK specifically be looking to attract significant new greenfield inward investment?
Is the transition to net zero a particular opportunity?
To what extent is better market access to neighbouring countries required for the UK to recover investment particularly in manufacturing?
How important is stability in regulatory policy?
How can we ensure all regions of the UK are as attractive for inward investment as London?

Policy Options

Trade Unlocked 2023’s policy partner, the UK Trade and Business Commission, has recently published a comprehensive report containing policy recommendations to the UK Government.

Policy options to improve the UK’s ability to attract FDI included a policy of ‘Alignment with EU Standards and Regulations’, highlighting the predictability that international companies require for major investments in greenfield capacity. For example, to know that the UK will align with EU manufactured goods regulations. Specific recommendations included:

“Enhance cooperation with the EU in the pursuit of shared net zero targets, focusing on joint initiatives, research, and investment in low-carbon technologies and energy infrastructure.”
“Ensure the right skills are in place, including to support inward investment”
“Deepen existing relationships including for the purpose of seeking greater foreign investment”
“Prioritise promoting soft power assets, including world-renowned universities and research institutions, to attract foreign investment”
“Strengthen Transatlantic dialogue, including to seek opportunities for increased investment”
“Work with devolved governments and city-region mayors to actively seek to attract inward investment for new production facilities across the country.”

Best for Britain

Inward Investment: what are the rules of attraction?

Questions under discussion

Policy Options

Freeing Trade: what needs to be done?

The UK’s labour mobility problem: how do we fix it?