Money from foreign investors is continuing to flood into the West Midlands with the strong city outlook, the imminent arrival of HS2 and the strong developments planned for the city ensuring that it’s a great place to invest!

Despite concerns over the impact and uncertainly surrounding Brexit, there continues to be an increasing number of positive discussions with foreign investors – say the Department for International Trade. One of the highlighted areas is the West Midlands – which saw 171 new projects come to the table, creating more than 9,000 new jobs whilst safeguarding more.

And the trend is set to continue – especially with the collaborative approach to driving investment and promoting the West Midlands with the arrival of HS2 set to unlock huge economic growth potential alongside development and regeneration sites, all of which will be discussed in detail at the HS2 Economic Growth Conference.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said: ”Two years since the EU referendum, the UK has record employment and seen an increase in new jobs as a result of inward investment. We remain the top destination in Europe and third in the world for foreign direct investment. As an international economic department, we continue to promote the strengths of the UK as a great inward investment destination, with an open, liberal economy, world-class talent and business-friendly environment.”

In total the Government says 76,000 new jobs were created last year alone from foreign direct investment – equating to 1,500 new jobs every single week. An addition 15,000+ were safeguarded. That shows the huge important to the economy and highlights an area that will need to be a real focus for our industry post-Brexit, whilst using it as a potential enabler for developments around the UK when HS2 arrives in cities and regions.

Join us at the HS2 Economic Growth Conference to hear how each city and region plans on maximising opportunities and how you can get involved.