I
presume that all the hand-wringing by politicians over the loss of Cadbury to
foreign-ownership will be forgotten in a few months when UK Trade &
Investment announce their latest annual inward investment results. Just like
Rolls-Royce Motors, P&O, Man Utd and around 500 other acquisitions each
year, the Cadbury deal is counted by the UK government as a “success” –
irrespective of the impact on jobs.
A
quarter of UKTI’s annual successes are accounted for by mergers and acquisitions over which government agencies have no control or influence.
This is a misleading practice which artificially distorts the true picture of
inward investment and exaggerates the performance of national and regional
quangos.
