Harrington Review calls for 'fundamental shift' to close annual £50bn foreign direct investment gap

Call for cross-government model

The UK is missing out on £50bn a year in foreign direct investment due to “disorganised” government systems, a review by a key adviser to the chancellor has found.

Richard Harrington, key adviser to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and chair of the Harrington Review, said most of the UK's competitors "have about 12% of GDP in business investment, both domestic and foreign". Meanwhile, the UK's equivalent stands at 10%, which represents a difference of £50bn a year. To tackle that gap, he recommended the creation of a new business investment strategy by spring 2024. Ten key takeaways from the 2023 Autumn Statement In the review documents, presented alongside Hunt's Autumn Statement on Wednesday (22 November), he said: "We have heard time and again about...