Derby’s investment strategy named among best in Europe by FT

Derby’s strategy for attracting overseas investment to the city has been named among the best in Europe in rankings compiled by the Financial Times.

Part of Marketing Derby’s Invest in Derby service involves attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to the city.

And in the prestigious Financial Times’ fDi European Cities and Regions of the Future 2025 rankings, Derby has been placed sixth within the Top 10 Small European Cities for FDI Strategy category, which recognises the cities who have devised the strongest strategy for attracting investment.

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “Over the years, Derby’s inward investment strategy has consistently been placed in the top 10 of these prestigious rankings – and we are delighted to be included once again.

“Despite the challenging global economic landscape, not to mention the geopolitical uncertainties, Derby’s proven strategy continues to successfully attract overseas investors.

“Our city has always prided itself as a UK home for the international business community and our recent successes illustrate this.”

fDi Intelligence is a service from the Financial Times and is the largest Foreign Direct Investment centre of excellence globally.

The rankings are one of the industry’s most prominent benchmarks of FDI competitiveness, measuring economic, financial and business strengths.

For this year’s rankings, fDi’s research team assessed data from locations across Europe, including cities and regions.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Derby has focused on diversifying its economy.

It is a strategy that is continuing to reap dividends, attracting international investments from major companies and investors.

They include German heating technology giant Vaillant, Swedish medical technology manufacturer Getinge and South Korean car manufacturer Kia.

All three companies have invested in new bases at Indurent Park Derby, a multi-million-pound business park being created by Indurent, which is owned by US-based Blackstone.

Elsewhere, Cale Street Partners, backed by the Kuwaiti Sovereign Wealth Fund, is continuing to invest in the Derbion shopping centre.

Towards the end of last year, Derby was named as a top 20 UK city for foreign investment attractiveness.

The UK Attractiveness Index, compiled by Irwin Mitchell and Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) examined the latest changes to FDI attractiveness of 50 locations based on 10 economic indicators.

Derby was ranked 20th, up four places from the previous edition of the study and ahead of Nottingham (30th) and Leicester (40th).

Derby’s fDi European Cities and Regions of the Future 2025 award will be presented at a ceremony to be held at MIPIM, the global property fair that is set to take place in Cannes, in the south of France, next month.