Manchester among top cities for inward investment

MANCHESTER has been ranked 15th in the world for investment projects by a new study.

The ranking, which saw the city beat Frankfurt, Dublin and Chicago, was based on the number of investment projects in 2008.

It is the first time Manchester has been listed in the top 20 of the IBM Global Business Services report.

Colin Sinclair, chief executive of inward investment agency MIDAS, said: “There can be no doubt that Manchester City Region has enjoyed great success in attracting investment over the past five years with the further investment of the BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, Google, Nike, Shoosmiths, Premier Foods, SAICA, UK Borders Agency and National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to name but a few.

“Our figures for 2009/10 could well be a record, incredible considering the state of the economy.”

The news comes as MIDAS launches its latest business plan for attracting inward investment to the city over the next 12 months.

Mr Sinclair said MIDAS planned to bring in more business development managers to attract more investors and work even more closely with internationally-facing companies in Manchester that were most likely to expand.

He added: “We will also continue to drive the global marketing of Manchester as a business location to attract new investment and promote Manchester’s position as Europe’s number one location for shared service and customer contact centres as demonstrated by our success with recent Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and US-owned SPX.

“We’re also pioneering new initiatives like the Manchester Business Club – a programme developed in partnership with Manchester Airport to build relations and trade, investment and air routes with five target cities including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Los Angeles and New York.”