NewcastleGateshead Initiative has crunched Government figures which show the region performed well on jobs created by foreign direct investment in the year to the end of March. The North East continues to outperform other regions on inward investment per capita, one of the region’s leading inward investment agencies says.
An analysis of Government figures on foreign direct investment (FDI) and related jobs in 2023/24, by destination and inward investment body NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI), shows the North East has attracted 2.52 FDI projects and created 161.71 jobs per 100,000 people – the highest of any UK region outside of London. And in pure numbers of jobs created the North East ranked fourth in the list of 12 UK regions and nations.
NGI says more than 1,700 job opportunities were created across Newcastle and Gateshead, between the beginning of April last year and the end of March this year, by projects supported by its inward investment agency Invest Newcastle.
The Business Live online website is reporting that nearly 800 of those jobs came from 29 companies that chose to set up bases in the area – a figure it says is the second highest intake since Invest Newcastle was set up in 2013.
And the 939 jobs created by 23 companies that decided to expand their existing footprint in 2023/24, shows Newcastle is a city where businesses can scale, bosses say.
A breakdown of the firms that invested in Newcastle and Gateshead over the period show more than half (52%) came from the digital and tech sector, 14% from the energy and sustainability and corporate services sectors, and 7% from the health and life sciences and creative industries sectors. More than one third (35%) of those firms were foreign-owned, with NGI pointing to Lockheed Martin’s decision to build a space skills and technology centre in partnership with Northumbria University, and Omnicom Media Group’s opening of a city office, as examples.
Coun Nick Kemp, leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “These results demonstrate Newcastle’s enduring investment appeal and should give confidence to the market that our city is an attractive place to do business. The strength of our investment proposition is our ability to work together across the public and private sector to unlock opportunities for growth and development and nowhere does collaboration better than Newcastle.”
“As a city council, we are committed to working with all parties to generate wealth that flows to all communities.”
Coun Martin Gannon, leader of Gateshead Council, said: “It is fantastic to see so many new businesses coming into Newcastle and Gateshead in 2023/24 and we have been delighted to welcome recent additions Chatterbox and Run VT to our fast-growing creative cluster at Baltic Quarter. Working with our partners in Newcastle and across the North East of England, we look forward to building on this progress and deploying our new powers through the mayoral combined authority to make our region even more attractive to investors.”
The NGI analysis follows two separate reports, including one from EY which looked at 2023 figures and determined the region ranked sixth in the UK for FDI-related employment, up from ninth the previous year, and ranked eighth for attracting FDI projects in 2023, up from ninth in 2022. Meanwhile research from law firm Irwin Mitchell analysing the UK’s 50 largest cities by criteria such as the number of economically active people and online connectivity, found Newcastle slipped back two places in its Investment Attractiveness Index to 38th.
Jennifer Hartley, director of Investment, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “Despite broader economic challenges and a slowdown in inward investment activity nationally, Newcastle has confounded expectations and demonstrated its resilience over the last 12 months. In addition to the 29 new companies we welcomed in 2023/24, we are particularly pleased to see such a surge in job creation as this will open up many unique pathways and career opportunities for our residents.
“Thanks to all our partners for their continued support and for working with us on the development of the city and its skills base.”