Region still attractive to foreign investors despite pandemic - report
The West Midlands ' attractiveness as an investment destination proved resilient amid the pandemic, with the region experiencing only a slight decline in projects and an increase in its share of the UK market in 2020.
That 's according to the EY 2021 UK Attractiveness Survey which launched today.
The West Midlands secured 61 inbound Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in 2020, down 4.7 per cent from the 64 achieved in 2019.
This was a much smaller contraction than the 12 per cent decline in overall UK projects and the 13 per cent decline in overall European projects.
The good performance relative to the rest of the country helped propel the West Midlands ' share of UK projects from 5.8 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
The region secured the fifth highest number of projects among all UK regions and nations in 2020 - maintaining its 2019 ranking.
London secured the most projects in the country with 383.
The West Midlands ' top sector was digital technology, which saw 11 projects in the region in 2020, slightly down on the 13 in 2019.
The next largest sectors were transportation manufacture and supply with nine projects (down from 13 in 2019), agri-food with seven (up from six in 2019), machinery and equipment with seven (down from 13 in 2019) and business services with four projects (up from three in 2019).
Projects were most likely to involve sales and services activities (29 projects, up from 23 in 2019).
Meanwhile, manufacturing activities have seen a continuous decline in the West Midlands over the last four years, and although there were 11 manufacturing projects in 2020, this is significantly below the 2015 high point of 38.
Logistics activities doubled from five projects in 2019 to 10 in 2020.
Simon O 'Neill (pictured), office managing Partner at EY in the Midlands, said: “Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, the West Midlands delivered a positive year for FDI in 2020.
“The impact of both the pandemic and the UK 's departure from the EU can be seen in how some of the region 's key sectors and activities have performed too, particularly the big increase in logistics projects as businesses in the West Midlands have reacted quickly to the changes around them. ”
Birmingham was the West Midlands ' leading location for FDI projects and the only place in the region to feature in the top 10 UK towns and cities, having secured 26 projects in 2020 - a figure above its ten-year average of 19.4.
This put the city in fourth position for all UK towns and cities, behind London (383), Edinburgh (36) and Manchester (35). Coventry recorded 10 projects, the joint 12th highest figure in the country.