Leeds named as one of the top cities in UK for overseas investment

A report on UK foreign direct investment (FDI) has ranked Leeds as the sixth best performing city for overseas investment outside of London.

The EY UK Attractiveness Survey, which is published annually, found that Leeds accounted for one in three FDI projects in Yorkshire, with the city attracting 20 projects in 2019, one less than the previous year.

Major international companies that chose to invest in Leeds include the Link Group and San Francisco based finance company, Credit Karma.

The report found that as a whole the UK continued to perform strongly, increasing inbound FDI projects by 5% compared to 2018. One area of high growth was projects in digital tech which saw the UK attract 432 projects (36% increase), representing a 30% share of all European FDI projects, more than France and Germany combined.

A link to the full report can be found here.

Although the current COVID-19 situation poses challenges relating to FDI both regionally and nationally, Leeds and the wider City Region are in a strong position to secure investment in emerging and resilient sub-sectors such as digital health, food and drink and fintech.

More details about the wider investment opportunities in the Leeds City Region can be found here.