Agricultural marketing and communications strategist Agro Mavens features in the Department for International Trade’s new UK Investment Support Directory, which aims to ensure the UK remains the number one destination for foreign inward investment in Europe.

Designed to help overseas businesses find the right support when entering or growing their operations in the UK market, the online directory promotes UK business expertise to investors worldwide, listed by industry and experience.

The UK Investment Support Directory is one of the many ways in which DIT is helping to drive investment to every corner and sector of the UK.

Sector knowledge

“Our knowledge of the UK’s agricultural sector, particularly the supply industry, its characteristics and its customers, is one of AgroMavens’principal strengths. Clients find it invaluable in the development and delivery of appropriate marketing strategies, especially when they’re entering the market for the first time,” says Adrian Bell, Agro Mavens founder and managing director.

“It’s great to have those skills recognised and to be invited to appear in the directory to support that valuable inward investment.”

British agriculture is valued at more than £26bn and represents more than 7% of the EU-28 agricultural market, Adrian says. “In agritech, we’re continuing Britain’s reputation for agricultural innovation and revolution, with our agritech sector now worth £14bn and employing over 500,000 people.

Government support

“Enthusiastic support from government is clearly helping, with investments such as the £160m Strategy for Agricultural Technologies and the four new Agri-Tech Innovation Centres, funded by a £90m grant,” Adrian adds.

“Meanwhile, policies to encourage development and uptake of agritech at farm level feature heavily in the new, post-CAP Agriculture Bill, our first new agricultural policy direction in almost 50 years.”

Such a fertile environment has made the UK a prime choice for agrifood start-ups: the UK was the third most active country for agrifood tech funding in 2017 (four times ahead of Germany) according to data from monitor AgFunder, while the World Bank ranks the UK as second only to Denmark for ease of doing business.

“In the UK, a new business can be registered and trading within just a few days,” explains Adrian. “Collaboration between industry and science is incentivised by government tax credits for R&D, while our corporation tax is the lowest in the G20. Our robust protections for IP are very attractive for inventors, patent holders and technological entrepreneurs.

“Altogether, this makes the UK an appealing option for overseas firms, entrepreneurs and early-stage companies involved in agriculture and agtech. We’re delighted to be able to provide our unique brand of advice to help investors make the right marketing decisions, and grow UK inward investment.”