The boss of a major UK manufacturing company said that fresh incentives offered in the US and Europe have him thinking about shifting investment there. John Neil, who runs parts and logistics giant Unipart, said he wanted to invest in Britain but UK companies could not "compete on a level playing field".
Through loans and tax benefits, the US is investing billions to support businesses that make electric cars, green energy, and microchips. Europe is also planning to ease state help rules for firms in green sectors.
But the UK has yet to announce its strategy, with the chancellor telling the media that he would wait to see what the EU did before making any decisions. Unipart is an Oxford-based company that manufactures car parts and components and handles supply chain logistics.
Neill, who is also a key board member of the car industry body the SMMT, said America's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed last year, was offering firms a "completely game changing set of incentives and fiscal support" that was hard to ignore.
"I've asked our team to think very carefully about our investment strategy in the US and our US operations and whether we should be pivoting more into those markets and possibly also into our European companies," he said.