Yorkshire bottom of the pile for foreign investment

The total number of jobs generated as a result of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Yorkshire more than trebled to 955 in 2013 compared to a year earlier (380), according to EY’s annual UK Attractiveness Survey.

However, the number of FDI projects secured by the region fell from 21 in 2012 to 20 last year, representing the lowest total of all 12 UK regions analysed.

Yorkshire was one of five UK regions to record a year-on-year decline in FDI projects in 2013, alongside Wales (-23 per cent), the South East (-15 per cent), the North East (-12 per cent) and the West Midlands (-5 per cent).

London (380), Scotland (82) and the North West (56) were the top UK regions by volume of FDI projects secured last year, helping the total number of projects in the UK as a whole rise 15 per cent to 799, the highest country total in Europe.

David Buckley, senior partner at EY in Yorkshire, said: “The fact that Yorkshire is in last place in the UK regions for foreign direct investment should be an alarm bell. What are others doing that we are not?”

On the positive side, he welcomed the spate of recent IPOs, strengthening Yorkshire’s base of listed companies.

But he said the lack of foreign direct investment compared to the rest of the UK meant that the region is “firing on three or four cylinders rather than six cylinders”.

Mr Buckley suggested that the cities of Yorkshire could work more closely together to present a unified story to investors.