Member Article

Only London betters North East job creation from foreign direct investment, analysis shows

The North East is outperforming every other area of the UK outside London for creating new jobs from foreign investment compared to population size, according to new data analysis.

In the last financial year, the North East Combined Authority (NECA) area from County Durham to the Scottish Borders also created nearly twice as many new overseas investment jobs for every one million people of the working age population compared with the UK average.

Inward investment chiefs have hailed the figures as underscoring the superb package of public and private sector support available making North East England one of the UK’s premier investment locations.

Particular strengths in the digital, advanced manufacturing, financial and professional services and energy sectors helped the NECA area secure 3,160 jobs from foreign direct investment and reinvestment in 2016-17 per one million working age people, compared with the UK average of 1,600 posts.

Guy Currey, Invest North East England Director, said: “Analysis by the North East LEP of Department for International Trade figures reveals that only London is doing comparatively better than we are.

“The North East secured 3,160 jobs from foreign direct investment or reinvestment for every one million working age residents. The UK average was 1,600 jobs for every one million of the working age population, which includes London, and is confirmation that the NECA area is significantly punching above its weight.

“These figures reflect the outstanding efforts of the local authority inward investment teams, as well as the overarching Invest North East England team, to bring foreign investment and encourage overseas reinvestment in our region.”

Victoria Sutherland, North East LEP Senior Economist, said: “We were pleased to see the most recent DIT data which showed there have been more than 3,000 new jobs created in the North East LEP area from foreign direct investment.

“We were interested to look into this data in more detail and found that the North East LEP area was second only to London per capita for investment performance.

“This is clear evidence that the great people and assets we have in the North East are highly attractive to overseas companies looking to invest and reinvest in the UK.”