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Inward Investment Results published for the Thames Valley area

12:54 02 September in Markets by tvportalstage

The Department of International Trade (DIT) has, this week, published the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) annual results for 2015/16 – the report is now live on gov.uk. Under the headline ‘UK breaks records to remain No.1 investment destination in Europe’, the DIT report:

  • Record number of inward investment projects into the UK in 2015-16.
  • Annual figures also reveal investments generated second highest number of jobs ever.
  • UK is the top European destination for investment from emerging markets.

Across the country, 2,213 inward investment projects were secured in 2015-16 – an 11 per cent increase on the previous year – leading to around 116,000 jobs being created or safeguarded – the second highest number on record.   Almost 1,600 new jobs a week were created by foreign direct investment in 2015-16 with UKTI, now part of the DIT, in partnership with LEP’s and local delivery partners such as the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC), helping to secure four out of five of the projects that created these jobs.    The South East of England (253 FDI projects) was the most successful region, outside of London,  for attracting FDI across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Thames Valley Roars Again

The Thames Valley area (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire) experienced another ‘bumper year’ with the number of reported FDI’s increasing in each LEP-area.

Paul Britton, Chief Executive of TVCC comments, “as the local delivery partner for both Thames Valley Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEPs, we are particular proud to be directly associated with this success. The performance across the Thames Valley region is testament to the strength and depth of the regions key sectors, business clustering and the importance we and partners place on engaging business and sustaining business relationships”. In particular, Paul continues “the Thames Valley continues to benefit from the unique cluster of some of the world’s strongest brands and most dynamic, innovative high growth businesses in key sectors, such as Technology, Life Sciences and High Performance Engineering, being present, continuing to invest and attracting others to join in our success. This year’s success is a testament to the collective efforts of all concerned – public and private stakeholders – and the Chamber have been pleased to contribute”.

  • Thames Valley Berkshire –  In the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP there were a total of 67 successful FDI projects accounting for 1,714 new and 21 safeguarded jobs.  Over half of the successes were recorded as good or high value. Investment from North America remains a significant component of project successes.  Investment by technology and life science businesses was strong.
  • Buckinghamshire Thames Valley – In the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP there were a total of 17 successful FDI projects accounting for 211 new and 7 safeguarded jobs. This year’s figures represent, once again, a year on year increase in the volume of FDI entering the LEP-area. Investment from the EMEA region represented the most significant component of project successes.
  • Oxfordshire  –  In the Oxfordshire LEP there were a total of 35 successful FDI projects accounting for 490 new and 120 safeguarded jobs.  Almost half of the successes recorded were high value. Investment from North America represented the most significant market origin, followed by China.