Cardiff Council representatives, along with other members of the Business Council have visited the United States to instigate inward investment opportunities, by promoting Cardiff as an excellent business destination for US firms to set up their European Headquarters.
Recently the city has already attracted cloud security firm, Alert Logic which has announced plans to locate its EMEA headquarters in Cardiff by October 2014 which will bring 130 well paid jobs to the Welsh capital.
During the visit a meeting has taken place with the Mayor of New York’s Office to develop a close working relationship between the two cities. Discussions have also taken place with four leading US firms on the benefits of investing their business interests in Cardiff as well as presentations given at two prestigious conferences, the Institutional Investor’s Corporate Financial Summit and the Institutional Investors Risk Management Forum which both took place in New York.
City Council Leader, Phil Bale, said: “Our firm message is that Cardiff is very much open for business and the development of the local and wider regional economy is integral to the city’s development. We have already seen significant growth in our economy, with employment growth faster than any other UK city between 2000 and 2010. Tourism spend has also increased dramatically with a rise of approximately £400m in the last 4 years. We have so much to offer and we intend to build on these strengths by selling Cardiff’s offering to the international business community.
“The Council carries out a number of roles to support interested businesses to locate to Cardiff, with expert advice on hand to advise on property, funding and skills.
“The development of Cardiff in recent years has delivered billions of investment, including the regeneration of Cardiff Bay, investment in St David’s 2, the Millennium Stadium and the International Sports Village.
“Cardiff has a further £5bn investment programme in place including the development of a Multi Purpose Arena and developing a new gateway into the city through the Central Square Regeneration Scheme.
The visit to the US is part of an ongoing inward investment programme which is led by the City of Cardiff and Cardiff Business Council.
