Yorkshire has strengthened links with Germany following a visit to the country by UK Trade & Investment European director-general, Malcolm Scott.
According to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the government’s organization that works to promote investment abroad and to attract foreign investment to Britain, the UK is the first destination for inward investment in Europe, and Yorkshire is one of the preferred locations.
Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), which Scott toured, is the only place in the UK (one of only 16 in the world) to be recognized as a global leader in welcoming inward investment.
Jim Farmery, assistant director of business at Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, said: “The AMP is an important driver for the regeneration of the engineering sector, in South Yorkshire, the wider Yorkshire region, and throughout the UK.”
The AMP is a joint venture of public and private sectors, from Yorkshire Forward to UK Coal. Its ability to attract investment has put it in the spotlight. Technologies developed there have already been used in Formula 1 and by Boeing, among others. Last year, Rolls-Royce decided to open at the AMP its £25m Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).
“Visits by international business intermediaries such as Mr Scott, who is leading a team promoting UK investment opportunities for German companies, help to raise the profile of the world-class manufacturing support available at the AMP, and promote the site to potential investors,” Farmery continued.
Scott also visited the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, a £100m partenership that brings together the expertise of the world’s leading aerospace company and the research within the university’s engineering faculty.
