Thames Valley: FT ranks Reading one of Europe’s top-25 business cities of the future

Reading has been ranked among the top-25 European business cities of the future for foreign direct investment (fDI) in the bi-annual report produced by the Financial Times.
The bi-annual FDI European Cities of the Future Awards 2016/17 ranks cities of all sizes across Europe against a number of business criteria to assess the attractiveness of each location for future investment. It places Reading 21st, making it the third-ranking UK city.

Reading was named in the FDI’s Top-25 European cities in the previous two rankings (2012 and 2014) and has retained its status in 2016. In this year’s awards, Reading was also named the second-most-business-friendly small city in Europe, based on factors such as the number and proportion of companies in high-tech and knowledge-based industries; the jobs created by investment; the foreign direct investment; ease of doing business; and the number of FT global companies located in the city.

Overall, Reading was ranked in six categories in this year’s awards:
2nd Small European Cities of the Future – Business Friendliness
7th Small European Cities of the Future
7th Small European Cities of the Future – Human Capital and Lifestyle
8th Northern-European Cities of the Future
9th Small European Cities of the Future – Economic Potential
21st Overall ranking of European Cities of the Future

The awards were based on measures such as economic potential, labour force, education, lifestyle, connectivity, digital networks, business friendliness and cost effectiveness.

Sue Brackley, economic development manager for Reading UK CIC, the organisation which submitted Reading’s application to the 2016 Awards, said: “These Awards recognise Reading’s compelling offer to business and investors – a base in the UK’s top-performing knowledge economy alongside major blue-chip companies; access to a workforce that is nearly 50% university-educated; Grade-A real-estate options with two million sq ft of new offices being built around the new station; excellent transport connectivity; and world-class research.

"Equally important for business is the vibrant urban environment, heritage and cultural scene and surrounding beautiful countryside, which makes Reading such an attractive place to live and work.”

A measure of Reading’s success is the current international investment, with Winnersh Triangle business park owned by Patrizia (Germany) and Green Park business park owned by Oxford Properties (Canada), and with many of the residential units in Chatham Place having been bought by international investors. There is also a proposed investment by Thailand in an international convention centre at Reading FC.

In addition, large UK companies such as M&G Real Estate, Benson Elliott (Stanhope partner, Station Hill), Brockton Capital (with Landid, Thames Tower), Titan Properties, Berkeley Homes, Standard Life, Legal and General, Aberdeen Asset Management, McKay Securities, Kier Property and many more are investing massively in Reading.

This investment has attracted major businesses to relocate to Reading, with the most recent example of inward investment being this month's announcement that both Bayer and Thames will be relocating to Reading’s Green Park, increasing business occupancy there to 92%.

Reading UK CIC is the economic-development company for Reading which promotes inward investment into Reading, markets it to business, ensures the labour market has the skills necessary to support business needs and provides business investment support and intelligence.

Foreign direct investment (fDI) is a direct investment into production or business in a country by an individual or company of another country, either by buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country. These awards rank Reading as a leading European location for business investment.