Will the UK’s Investment Summit Lack the X Factor?
Sir Keir Starmer promised to host an inward investment summit within 100 days of a new Labour Government. So at least that box gets ticked. It’s just a shame that there’s still no inward investment minister to make the welcome speech, although I’m sure that the headhunters are scrambling to hit this deadline! The whole thing is a hurried venture in an attempt to sell that cheesy and tired headline that “We are open for business.”
The planned UK International Investment Summit due to take place in a few weeks will be a tightly choreographed photo call for handpicked investors who will repackage announcements of investment projects. It’ll create some good headlines for a few hours but that’s about it.
Although with only a couple of weeks to go, the headlines are more about the last-minute nature of the event - with no published agenda or confirmed guest-list, and no investment minister yet appointed.
There’s nothing new about these closed-affair VIP-only events. They have taken place under different Prime Ministers, who all try to add together dozens of projects and promises to arrive at some spurious headline-grabbing figure. Boris got to £10 billion in 2021; then Rishi managed to claim £29.5 billion in 2023; but these figures are rightly shrouded in doubt and scepticism.
“Think of a number… then double it… now multiply by a billion…”
If it wasn’t for the Government’s petty politicking in not inviting Elon Musk, the summit would be getting next to no coverage.
We’ll likely see the unconscionable absurdity of welcoming sovereign wealth fund announcements from regimes that jail people for retweeting human rights messages; while at the same time excluding an American entrepreneur that encourages free speech on X. The Government appears to prefer its inward investors to be seen and not heard.
What a difference a year makes
It all represents a wasted opportunity and resources should be going into a more sustainable and practical offering.
I could make a very good argument for why governments are not the best people to promote a location, but I’ll shelve that thought for now, so with the public sector leading the UK’s investment attraction efforts, what are the best tools at its disposal?
Is it time for a SelectUK?
The model for a successful inward investment summit already exists - it’s called SelectUSA and it has taken place under both red and blue presidents for the past ten years. (https://www.selectusasummit.us/About/About-the-Investment-Summit)
It’s an event which actually moves the dial and nudges companies along a pipeline from initial ideas to project announcement. More than 5,000 people take part; companies from all 100 international markets arrive in delegations organised by US embassies; and representatives from all 50 states showcase their wares and engage with potential investors. It works for economic development agencies but more importantly it works for the investors themselves.
SelectUSA brings thousands of global investors together with all 50 states
The Department for Business & Trade should create a similar framework for a SelectUK. Host a three-day event with missions from our international embassies and consulates; involvement of UK cities and regions in a meaningful way; expertise provided by inward investment specialists and intermediaries: and associated spin-off visit programmes to different areas of the country.
Don’t hold the event behind closed (palace) doors - open it up to the world, stream it live and get thousands to visit the UK in a jamboree of inward investment.
This could be the centrepiece of the UK’s FDI attraction strategy, which could turn prospects into leads, and leads into projects. It would be a practical, interactive showcase of the why, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of investing in the UK.
I’ll do a follow up post to review the UK International Investment Summit and sincerely hope that my cynicism was misplaced. It will be interesting to see how the new Government plays it. Do they pretend that billions of pounds have been pledged since 5th July in support of a changed future - or will they acknowledge that billions are being invested in spite of the politicians, rather than because of them.
Inward investors have a thirst for stability and consistency - perhaps another staged summit will do just that. The real test though, is whether the Labour Government’s first budget a few weeks later will scare them off again.