The recent publication of EY’s annual Attractiveness Survey has revealed the exciting news that Scotland, for the third year running, has retained the top spot in the UK, outside of London, for FDI R&D projects.
Almost a quarter of all inward investor R&D projects coming into the UK chose to innovate in Scotland, representing a phenomenal 70% increase year-on-year.
It’s clear that business innovation in Scotland is at an all-time high, with businesses reaping more commercial success than ever before from their innovation activity to drive their growth and international expansion. Last year, for the first time, over £1 billion of R&D investment was made in Scotland, giving Scotland an FDI growth rate that was higher than the UK as a whole.
Scotland’s data-friendly business environment
The EY survey figures show that Scotland is increasingly securing higher levels of foreign direct investment in the field of data as more and more global investors are drawn to locate in Scotland to tap into its rich data-friendly business environment.
Commenting on the survey, Paul Lewis, managing director of Scottish Development International (SDI), said: This survey illustrates that Scotland is now firmly established as a location of choice for global investors. To be the number one UK location for R&D investment and the number one UK FDI location behind London generally is a tremendous achievement.
Now is the time for a collaborative approach to accelerate international growth, and the new global brand campaign Scotland is Now has been a significant development for us; representing a confident, consistent and bold approach to build a positive and meaningful story and brand for Scotland.
Collaboration across sectors is key
At The Data Lab, we believe that collaboration across sectors is key to supporting growth in Scotland and enables companies to access specialist sector and technology expertise to drive their innovation.
Working together and investing in skills, leadership, innovation and infrastructure, Scotland can continue its success on the global stage, become more productive through data innovation and produce more globally successful Scottish data driven businesses.
Read the full news release from the Scottish Enterprise media centre:
Scotland takes top UK position for FDI attractiveness
EY Attractiveness Survey shines spotlight on digital FDI success
2018 Scotland Attractiveness Survey
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