Spears quotes Piers Master on the Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment

In March 2023, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade asked Lord Harrington to conduct a Review into the UK’s approach to attracting foreign direct investment.

The Review was published on 22 November 2023 at the Autumn Statement and looks at how the UK can better attract foreign direct investment into key growth sectors to ensure the UK is the most attractive destination in Europe for internationally mobile investment.

Piers Master, Partner, comments for Spears:

"The Harrington Review of Foreign Direct Investment, which was published alongside the Autumn Statement, contained some useful insight into how the UK could get better at attracting the inward investment which is so important to the economy.  Lord Harrington referred to the need for the UK to have a compelling investment offer – in other words, policies and activities specifically targeted at attracting inward investment.

"He referred to the need for “dedicated incentives such as grant funding or tax breaks, specific provisions in other areas (for example investor visas or fast-track planning decisions)”.  Might that suggest that the UK will look again at reintroducing a high net worth investor visa, in place of the old scheme which was abolished in February 2022?"

Read the full article in Spears here.