JLL’s research reveals that the UK’s return to favour is not exclusively driven by concerns about offshore locations but a combination of factors. For several years, advanced manufacturing and R&D clusters have flourished around UK university hubs such as Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester. The availability of talent is another influence. Additionally, the UK’s high level of transparency, its increasingly competitive corporate tax regime and business-friendly environment are combined forces that continue to drive growth. Government incentives, more widely available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also add impetus to encouraging corporate investment back into the UK.

Tom Carroll, Director - EMEA Research, said: “Recent changes in the global economic and business landscape have resulted in an apparent reversal of the offshoring location trend with a number of companies electing to move operations back to the UK. This trend is not only confined to manufacturing. The move to re-shoring and nearshoring is also impacting the services sector with a range of financial and wider professional services companies such as law firms exploring ways to expand their enterprise footprint in lower-cost UK locations. The trend is not simply preserved for multinational companies either. Many mid-market firms are in the process of scrutinising their portfolios and looking for low-cost or nearshore alternatives.”

NR7330_JLL_re-shoring_paper.pdf

Manufacturing industry brings work back to the UK