Region attracts almost double the level of foreign investment

The study, by professional services firm Ernst & Young, showed that Yorkshire is proving attractive to manufacturers and financial services organisations who want to set up a UK base.

Britain retained its position as the most attractive destination for inward investment in Europe in 2009, according to Ernst & Young's latest European Attractiveness Survey, which is published today.

The UK attracted 678 investment projects in 2009, just one per cent less than in 2008. These projects produced 20,017 jobs, ranking the UK as the number one European location, with 16 per cent of the total jobs created across Europe by foreign direct investment (FDI). The largest investor in the UK was the United States (243 projects), followed by France (50), Germany (49) and India (38).

Forty two foreign direct investment projects were based in Yorkshire in 2009, the highest number recorded since 1998. The number of projects almost doubled from 22 in 2008.

Leeds attracted the most projects, with eight, followed by Sheffield (six), Bradford (five), Scunthorpe (three) and Hull (two). A third of the projects were started by US investors, including a new distribution centre in Bradford for greeting cards manufacturer Hallmark, which has its headquarters in Kansas City.

In 2009, Yorkshire was the second most popular place for foreign manufacturers to locate in the UK after London. Seventy one per cent of investment attracted to the region was from the manufacturing sector, particularly in the machinery and equipment, food, and plastics and rubber sector. Projects included the expansion of German-owned food manufacturer Dr Oetker's base in Leeds.

Around a quarter of foreign investment in Yorkshire came from the finance and business services sector, such as the call centre expansion at Swinton Group in Halifax and the new office for SG Hambros Bank in Leeds.

James Close, a partner at Ernst & Young, said: "When seen in the context of 12 months during which the European economy suffered a deep recession, the resilience of the UK in securing FDI is a remarkable economic success story.

"The reason for the strong performance is not, however, the emergence of exciting new origins for investment or previously unforeseen sectors. In fact, the UK continues to achieve success because of the strengths of London as a business and financial services centre, the underlying strengths of the UK in securing service sector investment and, crucially, the continuingly special corporate relationship between the UK and the US.

"Indeed, the principal reason why the UK is the leader in the attraction of FDI is that the UK is the location of choice in securing US investment, and the US is the main origin of FDI into Europe."