UK suffers dramatic inward investment slump
The number of new investment projects in the UK fell by more than a third in 2001 compared to 2000, far worse than the 12% drop recorded across Europe for the same period.
New investment projects totalled 377 in 2001, down from 575 the previous year, according to Ernst & Young’s European Investment Monitor.
Across Europe new projects fell from 2,243 to 1,974 on the year, resulting in 340,000 jobs being created or 30,000 fewer than 2000. US investment into Europe also fell sharply, declining by 26% to just 733, compared with 985.
Despite the poor performance across Britain, London remained the region that received the most investment, with 94 new projects started in 2001, compared with 86 in Catalonia and 61 in Paris, although London’s dominance has fallen significantly.
Commenting on the data, the report’s author Mark Hughes said: ‘Clearly the economic fallback in the United States throughout 2001 reduced investment into Europe. This really hit countries like the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland the man recipients of US projects.
‘The UK suffered the greatest absolute decline because sectors like telecommunications and software made up a disproportionate amount of its US investment profile.’