Levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK consumer sector tightened in 2025, as the number of investment projects fell from 16 to 12.
While overall levels of European FDI projects in the sector remained stable from 2024, the UK’s share fell from 14% to 11%, according to EY’s annual UK Attractiveness Survey. The number of jobs associated with these major projects fell from 890 to 159.
Despite the fall, the UK retained its spot as Europe’s fourth most popular nation for outside investment in major consumer products projects.
“While 2025 saw a moderation in project volumes, this reflects a more selective investment environment across Europe,” said EY UK&I consumer sector lead Euan Holmes.
“Encouragingly, the UK continues to attract high-value projects and demonstrates growing regional diversity, with locations such as Scotland and Northern Ireland securing notable wins.”
Scotland led out of all UK regions, securing four projects in 2025 ahead of Greater London’s three.
First minister John Swinney welcomed the result while on a visit to bottle corker Guala Closures’ new €60m Gartcosh factory, which opened in 2025 and is itself a product of FDI.
“These findings are testament to what Scotland has to offer – and the world is taking notice,” he said.
However, the UK’s declining number of jobs created through FDI has demonstrated the caution with which many investors have acted over the past year, according to Holmes.
The number of jobs that companies have announced they will create through these projects fell 82.1% to 159 in the UK, compared to an average decline of 44.7% across Europe.
“The slowdown in job creation points to a more cautious investment mood in consumer products, where companies are balancing growth ambitions against rising operating costs and continued global instability,” he said.
“Ongoing geopolitical disruption has kept supply chains, energy markets and consumer confidence under pressure, while higher employer cost expectations in the UK may also have made labour-intensive investments harder to justify.”
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