West Yorkshire records foreign investment boom, Northern Powerhouse Partnership reports

Findings from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership taken from analysing fDi markets data has shown the number of foreign-backed projects in the region has increased from 66 to 122 in the time period – with the number of associated jobs climbing from 4,960 to 7,018.

It puts the region second in the North for FDI projects behind Greater Manchester which has 222 such projects – 19 per cent more than it did between 2012 and 2016.

FDI into the Northern Powerhouse region – covering Yorkshire and Humber, the North East and North West) has increased by 72 per cent in the last five years despite dropping across the rest of the UK.

According to the report, FDI into the North rose from $25.4bn between 2012-16 to $43.7bn between 2017-21. By contrast, FDI into Greater London dropped 23 per cent over the same time period, from $43.4bn to $33.4bn.

The NPP, which was set up by former Chancellor George Osborne in 2014 as a lobbying group, said the region’s success could be credited to its strategy of promoting Northern projects to foreign investors.

It is now calling metro mayors to be given the automatic ability to create at least one freeport or other investment-based enterprise zone following the success of tax incentives in projects such as Teesworks in the North East.

Lord Jim O’Neill, vice-chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “The mission to put the Northern Powerhouse on the world map has been a resounding success and a huge amount of credit should go to the genuine cross-party effort between central government and northern civic leaders to make this happen.

“We have been particularly successful in Asia - while the rest the UK has seen FDI from Asia plummet $28bn, 56 per cent, over the last five years, it’s gone up seven per cent in the North. I often felt that the Northern Powerhouse concept was better understood by investors in Asia than it was among politicians and financiers in London.

“This is proof of the North’s economic potential, especially in innovative and green industries.

"If the rest of the world sees it, then our own government should be putting us front and centre of their growth strategy.”

In his introduction to the report, Lord O’Neill writes: “The government’s levelling up agenda needs to become far more serious in order to build on this momentum, putting economic credibility over political expediency. If the Chancellor is to achieve his 2.5% growth target for the UK, we will need higher productivity overall - which means closing the North – South divide.

"FDI has the power to make a meaningful contribution to the productivity challenge, and in the case of the North it is already happening. Devolution, specifically to improve skills and deliver on innovation, will be key.”

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “There are fantastic industries and opportunities across the North of England but the Government are failing to make the most of the successful innovation that is happening here.

“This report is great news, but we must build on this success with long term consistent plans that businesses can invest alongside.

"Labour's Industrial Strategy will support investment, innovation and offer the certainty northern business needs to prosper."