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The Prime Minister yesterday (9 June) opened the biggest trade fair in the UK in over 60 years. 

Like the Great Exhibition in the 1850s or the Festival of Britain in the 1950s, the International Festival for Business (IFB) is a once in a generation event to showcase the very best of Britain and encourage foreign investors to set up or expand in the UK.

Over 50 days, a quarter of a million people from 80 countries will take part in over 200 events promoting manufacturing, technology, science and more. That’s 6 weeks of deals being done and a predicted potential value of £100 million to the UK economy.

The festival will help fulfil our long-term economic plan by boosting investment, backing business and creating jobs. Crucially, it will also help further rebalance the economy, spreading growth in the North as well as the South.

The British Business Embassy (BBE) will be the opening event for the International Festival for Business.

Follow live coverage of the BBE on Twitter @UKTI using #BBE14 or on UKTI’s Storify.

Banging the drum for British business

The Prime Minister will tell an audience of 250 CEOs why he is again banging the drum for British business. He is expected to say:

One of the things I love about Britain is that we are a nation of geniuses. Almost every invention worth inventing, we’ve had a hand in it. Almost every type of industry there has been, we’ve excelled at it. I’m proud that we’ve always been at the centre of the world for enterprise and business; at the top of the tree when it comes to innovation and creativity. That is what has provided us with jobs, revenue and economic security – and a platform to extend our power and global reach.

There’s nothing more important in my long-term economic plan for Britain than making this the most creative country on earth – at the forefront of the latest industry, making things and selling them to the world.

Let me say a bit about the role I see myself playing in this. Of course, it’s to make sure Britain is the best place in the world to start, finance and grow a business; to make sure we invest in science and skills; to make it easier for people to get their ideas off the drawing board and onto the factory floor – and we are doing all those things.

But it’s about more than that. I believe a Prime Minister shouldn’t just lead the country – they should help promote it to the world. That’s why I’ve taken trade missions from China to Brazil, from Malaysia to Mexico. It’s why I held the Global Investment Conference at the Olympics. It’s why I held an investment conference in Northern Ireland at the time of the G8 last year; why I’m holding one in Wales at NATO; and why I’ve backed the International Festival for Business in Liverpool from its inception.

This government wants to work on behalf of every business in Britain to drum up trade, encourage investment and pave the way for growth. That’s the way we’ll generate jobs, pay our way in the world, and create stability, security and a brighter future for Britain.

Before addressing the festival, the Prime Minister was shown around the Port of Liverpool, which is undergoing a huge transformation to become one of the biggest ports in Europe, further boosting inward investment, increasing exports and creating and supporting tens of thousands of jobs.

The IFB is a key part of the government’s ambition to promote economic growth to rebalance the economy, double UK exports by 2020 and further strengthen our position as the lead country for inward investment in Europe.

And while the festival itself is held in Liverpool, it will attract investment into every corner of the UK.

Britain is the most attractive place in Europe to invest

The PM’s speech comes on the back of further strengthening economic news:

• another report from Ernst & Young confirms that Britain is the most attractive place in Europe to invest – ahead of Germany and accounting for 20% of all investment projects in Europe
• EEF have also upgraded manufacturing growth forecasts from 2.7% to 3.6% - the highest level for 7 years

The Prime Minister also welcomed a number of jobs being created or safeguarded around the country, with many more expected over the next 50 days. A few of the announcements are:

• Volkswagen Financial Services creating 340 jobs in Milton Keynes
• Heineken investing £50 million, safeguarding 240 jobs in Manchester
• Multimatic car manufacturers creating 232 R&D and manufacturing jobs in Coventry and Norfolk

Read more about how we’re growing the UK economy.