Foreign Investment in the UK

“The scale of foreign investment is a huge success story which shows that Britain is the place to do business.” Prime Minister David Cameron (2015).

In recent years the UK has seen significant growth in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and has been ranked fourth globally in a recent report . It now lags behind only the US, China and India as an investment destination, with a record number of 887 FDI projects in 2014 creating over 30,000 jobs.

This is a nationwide phenomenon. We are seeing investment spread from outside of London and the South East across other key regions in the UK. With the need to improve connectivity between the great cities of the north confirmed as one of the initial focuses of the National Infrastructure Commission, and the “Northern Powerhouse” initiative attracting huge levels of industry interest and political support, this trend towards decentralisation is only likely to accelerate.

Foreign investors are looking for financial strength, a stable political environment, a predictable regulatory regime, and a solid commitment to long term infrastructure development. Chinese investment is already a reality in the nuclear sector at Hinkley Point, and in transport HS2 is now on their agenda. There is also significant investment from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Korea in the UK real estate market, across projects including Nine Elms, Battersea Power Station and Manchester Place.

But there is no room for UK plc to be complacent.

During this seminar, we will:

• consider whether the UK is doing enough to attract investment;
• discuss trends and objectives among investors from the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere;
• predict future activity in the market; and
• ask what all this means for your business, in terms of both challenges and opportunities.