In the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions, the West Midlands continues to buck the UK’s FDI decline and has consolidated its position as the top UK location outside London for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years.
EY figures published last month show the West Midlands as a powerful contender in the global race to secure FDI.
While most regions experienced a decline in their inward investment performance, the West Midlands enjoyed UK-leading growth, with FDI projects up 72% from last year and representing 13% of the UK’s total. The report also shows Birmingham as a key driver of this growth, setting a record for the highest number of projects managed by any regional city in the last decade.
In particular, the report shows that last year:
- The West Midlands was the leading UK regional location for jobs and employment – creating almost 7,000 jobs, higher than any other region outside London.
- The West Midlands was in Europe’s top 10 best performing regions for FDI.
The latest data from EY reflects a positive trend echoed by the Department for Business and Trade, as well as the West Midlands Growth Company’s own data (WMGC) which shows that our work has delivered our highest-ever figures for both projects and jobs into the region.
This is the second successive record-breaking year for the West Midlands. On the back of the Business and Tourism Programme, which sought to maximise the economic impact of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 saw the West Midlands become the UK’s leading regional destination for FDI, attracting more investment projects than Scotland and Wales combined.
Recent investments from international companies include Swedish-owned company Atlas Copco opening a new Smart Factory Innovation Centre in Wolverhampton; US-owned HCA Healthcare opening the state-of-the-art Harborne Hospital in Birmingham; and global leader in design and technology services, Tata Elxsi, announcing a wave of new cybersecurity and AI jobs at its Coventry design hub.
Why the West Midlands?
Much of the West Midlands’ success is down to the fact that it can offer so much of what the world wants. Among our many selling points are an economy larger than many nation-states, a growing, world-class talent pool, and unrivalled transport connectivity that will get even better when HS2 arrives at the end of the decade.
Then, we also have well-known strengths in advanced manufacturing; the UK’s largest regional BPFS sector; growing talents in future mobility and low carbon; and we are the country’s fastest-growing tech sector – with an innovation ecosystem that counts over 100 collaborative tech hubs, four Innovate UK Catapult Centres and nine top-class universities.
Not only that, but there is an extensive support system for those looking to expand here. This is where the West Midlands Growth Company plays its part; our Global Growth Programme is a fully funded, bespoke support package that will enable as many as 40 international scale-ups looking to accelerate their growth in the region. The pilot programme, launched in 2022 alongside the Commonwealth Games, supported 35 foreign-owned companies to land here over an 18-month period.
We’ve also been increasingly active from an international standpoint – engaging markets such as India, Australia, Canada and Singapore with mayoral-led missions to turn the incredible interest generated during (and since) the Commonwealth Games into tangible investment and jobs.
What’s next?
Creating good jobs for local people is one of the West Midlands Growth Company’s four strategic objectives, and growing our regional economy is one of the most efficient ways to do that – as shown in EY’s figures which show that FDI projects created an incredible 6,784 jobs last year.
Of course, it’s our responsibility not only to try and recreate this level of performance year-on-year but to make sure the kinds of opportunities we’re helping to deliver are the right ones.
Having long been a pioneer of industry, the West Midlands is now giving rise to new technologies that are shaping a more sustainable future, whether it be trailblazing sustainable construction in Wolverhampton, life-changing MedTech in Birmingham or new battery technology in Coventry.
In the coming months and years, we will therefore be continuing to harness the West Midlands’ strengths in innovation to drive even further investment into our region and its people. Our regional marcomms campaign – It starts in the West Midlands – is designed to increase the visibility of the West Midlands’ innovation ecosystem, recasting the region’s brand from industrial to innovative.
We’ve also been tasked with promoting the new West Midlands Investment Zone, a region-wide area that will benefit from a mix of tax incentives, direct funding and business rate retention. Powered by three main sites – Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, Coventry and Warwick Gigapark and the Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor – we’ll be supporting the West Midlands Combined Authority and regional partners to create a unique proposition which is attractive to occupiers, as well as national and international investors.
Finally, at this year’s London Tech Week, we launched a supercharged version of our Global Growth Programme. Building on the success of the pilot, it’ll provide an even greater package of support for up to 40 of the most exciting innovation-led international businesses that want to create new opportunities in our region.
The UK’s regional economies are like sleeping giants, and the latest FDI figures show that the world is waking up to the West Midlands’ potential. As the new government looks to stimulate economic growth by harnessing the strength of regional innovation, we are showing that the blueprint to make that happen starts in the West Midlands.
