The French are coming

French investment in Kent’s business community is growing and stringent new tax laws introduced on high earners by President Francoise Hollande’s left-of-centre administration could see a further increase.

Figures from Locate in Kent, the county’s investment promotion agency charged with attracting and retaining jobs in the county show that over the past five years, 17 companies from France have either relocated to Kent or reaffirmed their commitment to the county, compared to 12 from Germany.

But the USA is still narrowly in Gold Medal position for foreign investment in the county with 18 successes.

The new French Government is proposing tax changes that would see his country’s highest earners facing a 75 per cent rate and scrapping tax breaks on overtime, so Kent may soon be reaping the benefit of an exodus of French businesses.

The UK is now seen as such an attractive destination for disillusioned French citizens that their numbers in London make it the equivalent of the sixth largest city in France, and Locate in Kent is working hard to tap into that market.

“There are many reasons for these very encouraging figures, not least that as an organisation we have been working hard to generate opportunities from northern Europe, and particularly France,” said Paul Wookey, chief executive of Locate in Kent.

“We have formed a partnership with a French agency which assists us with lead generation in a particularly fruitful market, and we have targeted overseas trade exhibitions for sectors for which we believe Kent has a strong offer, such as wind energy in Germany and Denmark and life sciences in the US.”

Over the past five years, foreign direct investment (fdi) overall has grown from 16 per cent of Locate in Kent’s successes to 28 per cent.

In the last financial year, 21 overseas companies came to or expanded in Kent via Locate in Kent, creating or retaining 1,491 jobs, 46 per cent of all those created or retained via the agency and the biggest number of fdi jobs for five years.

Wookey added that Locate in Kent has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), which gives it access to UKTI’s database of companies interested in locating in the UK, allowing it to identify those for which Kent offers a compelling proposition and to approach them directly.

Successes include South African company Document Warehouse bringing 200 jobs to Ashford through their first investment in the UK, as well as a German distribution company setting up in Medway with 23 jobs.

“It is important that we continue to generate fdi projects and convert them into success, as figures show that on average they result in more jobs than UK-based companies investing in Kent,” said Wookey.

“Last year, the average number of jobs created by fdi projects was 56 compared to 18 for UK successes. Over the past five years that average is 73 jobs for fdi projects compared to 43 for UK projects.

“That is why we have put so much effort into developing our networks and contacts and are so encouraged by these latest figures.”

Source: businessforkent.co.uk

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