Member Article

C&W a hotbed for jobs through foreign investment

Over 20,000 jobs have been created in Coventry and Warwickshire in the last nine years through foreign investment, making it one of the most successful areas in the country. Figures show 403 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects were attracted to the area which includes 56 during the last year, securing 3,195 new jobs. Inward investment is the focus of this month’s SmartRegion report which contains findings from research and engagements contributed to by the Growth Hub, Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, and other local and national business support organisations.

Coventry & Warwickshire was the best performing area on a population basis of all 38 LEPs geographies across England, for the numbers of new jobs created through FDI investment per 100,000 working age people in 2022/23. According to data released by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the West Midlands is also the top regional location for attracting FDI outside London, and has achieved the highest annual growth rate among all UK locations.

The DBT data for 2022/23 reveals that the West Midlands successfully attracted 181 FDI projects, surpassing the combined number of projects in Scotland and Wales, and outperformed the South East for the first time. The West Midlands projects also accounted for over 10 per cent of the UK’s total FDI wins (1,654).

Key sectors for Coventry & Warwickshire included automotive and future mobility (17 projects), digital creative and software (13 projects) and e-commerce and logistics (five projects). Investments included those from countries including Australia, China, Germany, India, Japan, the US and Sweden.

Earlier this year, Coventry and Warwickshire, alongside Birmingham and Wolverhampton, secured top three positions in the FDI Intelligence ‘European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023’ rankings which benchmark European cities and regions according to their economic, financial, and business strengths. Craig Humphrey, CEO of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, said the figures highlight that Coventry and Warwickshire continues to be a highly attractive proposition for investment.

He said: “Our location, world-class universities, catapult centres and the business support we provide are key attributes in our success at attracting foreign investment, which is vital for the future sustainable growth for the UK’s economy.

“Our area accounted for 17 per cent of the total UK’s Automotive project successes, and the software and computer services and financial services sectors’ ability to create highly-skilled jobs as well demonstrates their pivotal role as drivers of economic growth.

“This is testament to the work of the Inward Investment teams at Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council, and the partnership with WM Growth Company which is giving our region an increasingly strong and attractive international profile.”

He added: “With the hugely positive FDI figures for Coventry and Warwickshire, and for the wider West Midlands, it is vital that we build on this good performance to continue to grow our local and regional profile in seeking new investment.

“In Coventry and Warwickshire, the activities of Invest Coventry & Warwickshire are continuing to showcase the assets that we have locally and are helping to build on our successes.”

Invest in Coventry & Warwickshire is the inward investment service of Coventry and Warwickshire, and is funded by Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .