The South East of England has lost its position as the top destination for foreign investment outside London.
EY’s annual survey on the UK’s attractiveness for overseas capital showed the North West of England and West Midlands experiencing a bumper year.
The North West recorded 88 new investment projects last year, a rise of 19% from 2021 and up a fifth on pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019. The region is now second to London as a destination for foreign capital, with the West Midlands third with 74 new projects.
London, which kept its position as the top overall destination for investment projects with 299, lost some of its dominance, as the capital’s total share of projects fell to a third last year, compared with about half before the pandemic in 2019.
Overall, however, the country saw a 6% fall in projects funded by foreign investment between 2021 and 2022.
