THE Prime Minister visited Birmingham yesterday to try and answer concerns from business leaders that the UK was becoming a less attractive investment location for business.
Tony Blair was addressing the opening day of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) national conference following a survey which revealed a "deeply worrying" trend of British firms switching work overseas.
A third of 250 company executives questioned said they had relocated activities, including call centres, research and development and manufacturing, in recent years, mainly to cut costs.
A lack of skilled workers and an increase in regulations were also cited by firms moving business abroad.
"When decision makers start giving the kind of signals contained in our survey, the Government must take action," said Digby Jones, director general of the CBI.
"There is widespread concern about the UK's declining competitiveness and this is starting to feed through to investment decisions."
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