NORTHERN Ireland’s strategy for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) is pushing indigenous manufacturers overseas in search of skills and growth, a Westminster committee has heard.
Peter Cunningham, who heads Lisburn-based electrical manufacturing specialist Camlin, told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday that his firm had resorted to setting up technical centres in Serbia, Italy and Poland to source engineers.
He said the current strategy around skills and overseas investors in the north “is creating an ever de-creasing circle” for his type of firm.
“What we do is we incentivise FDI firms to come in and hoover up those jobs,” he said.
Camlin, which specialises in electricity and rail networks, employ 480 people across 21 sites in 17 countries. Around 200 staff are based in the north, but the chief executive said growing the business here is proving difficult because of the number of overseas IT and fintech companies which have moved here with government funded support.
“In effect, a company like us, it makes no sense to do it in Northern Ireland. It actually makes far more sense to do it outside in a place like Serbia, Italy and Poland.
“Because the moment we train the people up, we know a FDI company in receipt of subsidies, will come in to pay a premium on the people we have,” said Mr Cunningham.
Calling for a rethink of FDI strategy, he said Invest NI’s counterpart in the Republic, the IDA, takes a more focused and strategic approach.
The comments came as the Department for the Economy (DfE) confirmed an independent review of Invest NI will assess whether the agency’s approach to the delivery of FDI, including its interventions and structures, is effective.
The Camlin boss added: “Northern Ireland is a completely inward looking economy and the strategy that we have, the incentives we have, the job numbers and the targets we are setting are completely incorrect.”
Mr Cunningham said the current education system incentivises the top performing students to pursue medicine, law and accountancy.
He suggested that personal income tax breaks could be introduced for young engineers who take on roles with local manufacturing firms.
The committee also heard from Mark Huddleston, the joint chief executive of the new Makers Alliance, an independent industry-led body, set up last year with the backing of DfE.
He said the north's skills and further education (FE) sector had suffered from significant “disinvestment” over the past decade, with funding dropping from £100 million to £60m.
Mr Huddleston said a focus on capital investment has left the FE sector facing potential failure.
“The current budget that is out for consultation is further disinvesting to the extent that the Department for the Economy are saying, and business agrees, that we will probably see a failure within the FE systems over the next number of years."
He also said schools in the north are incentivised to retain post-16 pupils to the disadvantage of FE colleges.
The result he said is a disproportionate focus on academic study.
He claimed one talent pool is being “failed” with another simply opting to leave Northern Ireland.
Peter Cunningham added: “As the chief executive of a private business in Northern Ireland, it’s crazy to think you can do something here like this and expand and export rapidly out of Northern Ireland the way things are.”
