Foreign firms stalling on UK investment due to Brexit, study shows

The UK is falling behind in terms of winning foreign investment due to concerns about Brexit, new research has shown.

Accountancy firm KPMG conducted a poll which showed that the UK had slipped from first position to fifth in the list of top choices for foreign investment.

The survey compared the member states of the G7 in relation to their investment prospects with companies from the other countries, with doubts being expressed about trade disruption and tariffs concerning the UK.

"Companies, regardless of where they are located, continue to make investment decisions based on a variety of factors that include political and economic stability, market size, the cost and availability of a skilled labour force as well as the national tax regime," said KPMG tax partner Robin Walduck.

"The material change this year is that finance executives are now grappling with the question of how Brexit might impact current and future investment in the UK. It's in this area we see a striking divergence between the views of UK companies and their G7 peers, providing some insight as to why the UK has started to fall out of favour."

With the UK falling to fifth position in the rankings Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Singapore skipped ahead to claim the top four spots.

Several multinational firms have expressed a consideration to move certain operations out of Britain before Brexit becomes a reality, including JPMorgan and others who are reported to be looking at moving across the Irish Sea.