Regions ‘hit by scrapping of agencies’

THE scrapping of regional development agencies is hitting England’s ability to win foreign investment, the Yorkshire head of a Big Four accountancy firm claimed yesterday.

David Buckley, senior partner at Ernst & Young in Yorkshire, said English regions suffered in the battle to attract foreign investors last year, which he suggested was due to the coalition Government decision to close Yorkshire Forward and its regional counterparts.

He said: “Now represented by Local Enterprise Partnerships, English regions need greater focus and support to attract inward investment, or risk damaging the UK’s overall performance.