More FDI Companies Choose the UK’s West Midlands than Any Other City Region
In 2024-2025, the West Midlands once again proved its strength as the UK’s top-performing region outside the capital for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). 130 businesses from around the world chose the West Midlands as the location to launch, expand, and thrive.
That’s more FDI projects than Scotland, and more than Wales and Northern Ireland combined. It shows the scale of the West Midlands’ unrivalled economic appeal and the desirability to be part of the region sitting in the heart of the UK.
These investments delivered real impact too, creating 5,821 new jobs and driving growth across our cities and communities.
A history of reinvention and innovation
While the Industrial Revolution put the West Midlands on the global map, the region has been reinventing itself ever since. From steam trains and coal seams to HS2, hydrogen fuel cells, and life science labs, the West Midlands never stops building what’s next.
Across the three cities and seven local authorities that make up the West Midlands, ten universities, cutting-edge R&D centres, and specialist innovation hubs power the region’s success. This is where global companies collaborate with leading academics, spin out breakthrough technologies, and tap into talent clusters that keep them competitive and future-ready.
Our universities don’t just teach – they partner. Jaguar Land Rover works alongside Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick to drive automotive innovation. At Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, companies partner with the University of Birmingham’s experts to accelerate medical breakthroughs. In Coventry, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) supports businesses pushing the frontiers of sustainable battery technology.
Altilium’s success with West Midlands R&D
Just two months ago, UKBIC and clean-tech pioneer Altilium marked a UK first — successfully producing new electric vehicle battery cells using recycled cathode active materials. It’s a breakthrough that not only strengthens the UK’s supply chain resilience but shows what’s possible when global innovators work with the West Midlands’ world-class battery and electrification ecosystem.
Altilium, a leader in green recycling technology, turned to UKBIC to scale its process for transforming battery waste into valuable new materials. The two teams took recycled metals recovered at Altilium’s facility, refined them into fresh cathode material, and manufactured battery cells suited for next-generation EVs. It’s a significant milestone in achieving a more sustainable, circular battery supply chain.
For international companies exploring where to develop, test and industrialise technologies, Altilium’s success is a clear signal: the West Midlands is the UK’s hub for innovation.
Work Where You’d Want To Live
Beyond business, the West Midlands offers a quality of life that’s hard to match. Here, people enjoy diverse cultures, connectivity and career opportunities, but without the soaring living costs of London.
Families benefit from more affordable housing, excellent schools, and green spaces on their doorstep, while vibrant city centres like Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton deliver world-class dining, entertainment and culture. It’s a place where international talent can build a career and a life, with more space, more balance, and more value for their money.
A vibrant place to live
When companies expand abroad, quality of life is just as important as commercial opportunity for them and their people. The West Midlands delivers on both. Vibrant and thriving, the region offers something for everyone, making it an immensely popular place to live, work and put down roots.
The Current European FDI Landscape
According to the Department for Business and Trade, the current FDI climate in Europe is challenging. Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and rising trade barriers are causing many businesses to hesitate. In fact, 37% of companies have postponed, scaled back, or cancelled European investment plans altogether, contributing to an 8% drop in global FDI.
Yet the UK remains one of Europe’s most attractive destinations for investors. In the 2024–25 financial year, the UK ranked second in Europe for the number of FDI projects landed – just behind France – but led the continent in new projects for the fifth year running and created more jobs through FDI than any other European country.
Amid these global headwinds, the West Midlands continues to outperform. While London saw a 14% drop in FDI projects year-on-year, the West Midlands held steady with only a 2% decline – proof that targeted investment policies, infrastructure upgrades, and a clear sector focus are keeping the region resilient and open for business when others are losing momentum.
These results are further evidence of how the West Midlands’ unique strengths – including unrivalled connectivity, an impressive specialist talent pool and world-beating R&D assets – are helping the region to edge ahead of global competition in the race to secure inward investment.
Hosting the first-ever Regional Investment Summit this October will help us to keep up momentum when it comes to securing inward investment and we look forward to taking centre stage to demonstrate everything that makes the West Midlands a premier destination for the world’s biggest businesses.
Medherant Sticks to Success
Medherant is a perfect example of how global innovation takes root and grows in the West Midlands.
Working with the University of Warwick, and situated in the University of Warwick Science Park, Medherant has developed pioneering transdermal patches that deliver medicines more effectively and comfortably than traditional methods. Staying close to world-class R&D facilities, expert talent and commercial partners has not only helped the team create their breakthrough patch, but helped them secure the patent.
From university labs to global markets, businesses find the research, facilities and support to move ideas off the drawing board and into the real world. It all starts in the West Midlands.
Medherant’s story shows why the region is where innovation sticks, scales and succeeds.
Who has already chosen the West Midlands to enter the UK market?
Evidently, Medherant and Altilium are far from alone in recognising what the West Midlands has to offer. Businesses from across the world and across industries are choosing this region as the place to grow, innovate and succeed.
- Harvey Norman, the Australian-owned multinational retailer, recently chose Sutton Coldfield for its next UK store and headquarters.
- NMS UK, a specialist in defence manufacturing, is setting up a new production facility in Leamington Spa.
- Sanlab, a Turkish robotics pioneer, is expanding at the University of Warwick Science Park, placing them in the heart of tech innovation.
Sanlab were part of last year’s cohort of the Global Growth Programme and found success, hiring 80 people to become part of their team. The Programme is a fully funded market entry support package that helps companies enter and expand in the UK market.
When The Disposal Company set their sights on international expansion beyond their home country of India, they chose the West Midlands as the place to lead their mission of tackling global waste and carbon emissions. With the region’s ambitious target to be net zero by 2041 and a strong market for sustainable solutions, the fit was clear. Through the Global Growth Programme, the company got hands-on support at every stage: from company registration and tax guidance to introductions to local mentors and networks. The Disposal Company scaled up faster and greener, proving the West Midlands helps sustainability innovators make a bigger impact, sooner.
The Global Growth Programme is currently looking for ambitious companies to join its next cohort and start their next chapter in the West Midlands. Interested?
These businesses are proof that when you combine sector strengths, world-class research and tailored support like the Global Growth Programme, the West Midlands becomes more than a landing spot – it’s a launchpad. If you’re ready to grow faster, innovate smarter and reach the UK market with confidence, the next chapter of your story starts here.
The future of West Midlands FDI
In the West Midlands, we are innovators. Innovating doesn’t stop. We’re always looking to the future and how we can continue to be the fastest-growing tech sector outside of London, and how we can continue to ensure that investing businesses land in a vibrant ecosystem of growth, skills development and innovation support.
The region was chosen to be one of the few government-backed Investment Zones in the UK. Here, companies have unique commercial opportunities, including tax incentives, capital funding and business rates retention.
The Investment Zone consists of three sites, each uniquely equipped to provide businesses with the opportunities they need to thrive.
The Birmingham Knowledge Quarter is a world-leading city-centre innovation ecosystem designated as a state-of-the-art R&D cluster for cutting-edge companies specialising in advanced digital technologies, engineering and HealthTech research.
Coventry & Warwick Gigapark is the only UK gigapark site with planning permission. With a wealth of world-leading battery and EV industry and R&D close at hand, Coventry & Warwick Gigapark has the infrastructure, scale and central location to enable full supply chain, skills and logistics development.
The Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor represents a paradigm shift towards sustainable manufacturing, propelled by cutting-edge technologies, a strong supply chain and a highly skilled, diverse talent pool.
Our Investment Zone sites:
Birmingham Knowledge Quarter
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Coventry & Warwick Gigapark
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Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor
Set up in WM
A Powerhouse of Economic Strength
Over the past three years, the West Midlands has consistently proven itself as a powerhouse of economic strength, second only to London in the UK’s economic hierarchy. In that time, the region has secured 444 FDI projects and generated over 21,000 new jobs, putting it head and shoulders above any other UK location outside the capital, including Scotland, Wales and the North West.
What makes this possible? A deep pool of skilled talent. A culture of collaboration between universities and industry. Thriving R&D sectors and a relentless drive for innovation. And a central location with unmatched connectivity across the UK and beyond.
Together, these strengths make the West Midlands one of the most popular places in the UK to establish, expand and succeed.
Free support services
We bring together a project team from relevant organisations across the region. This team includes property agents, recruitment consultants, public sector departments and universities. It delivers a comprehensive support package to quickly and easily help you establish and scale your business in the UK.
