Invest Northern Ireland will make its case to British companies at a business reception in London on 15 October, after reporting that its support helped secure £764m of business investment in 2025-26, a rise of 19 per cent on the previous year.
The economic development agency, whose head of territory for GB and Europe is Peta Conn, said its London Business Reception will bring together businesses from Great Britain to explore why companies are choosing Northern Ireland as a base for growth and investment.
According to Invest NI’s performance results, published on 30 June, the £764m total was the highest since 2014-15. The agency said it offered £126m of assistance across 2,221 investment projects, and that the support would help companies to create 4,301 jobs, up 45 per cent on the previous year.
Kieran Donoghue, chief executive of Invest NI, described the results as “a very strong performance” at a time when businesses face rising costs and competition, trade uncertainty and technological change. He said the agency won 20 new, first-time foreign investments during the year, and that the majority of investments came from locally owned companies, predominantly SMEs.
Invest NI said Version 1, Citi, Allstate and Axa were among the international businesses to have expanded in Northern Ireland, alongside a growing number of companies from Great Britain. Version 1’s plan for about 400 roles in Northern Ireland was among the projects announced at the UK-Ireland Summit in Cork in March.
Among the British arrivals cited by the agency is Achilles, a supply chain risk management company founded in 1992, which announced in March that it would create 26 jobs at a new sales and technology hub in Belfast. Invest NI said the roles carry an average salary of £37,375 and that the company plans to have them all filled by 2027.
Katie Ferrier, regional director of UK, Ireland and Middle East at Achilles, said at the time: “Belfast is a natural location for us to build and grow a high-performing team.”
In June, Reward, a customer engagement and commerce media platform that has operated in Belfast since 2016, said it would add 61 jobs in the city. The roles include software engineers, data engineers and five graduate positions. Invest NI said the jobs are expected to generate more than £3.3m in annual salaries once in place.
Killian O’Rawe, chief technology officer and Belfast site lead at Reward, said: “Expanding our Belfast operation is a natural next step as we continue to grow.”
The agency also pointed to two smaller projects. 3VRM is creating 10 analyst and consultant roles at a new delivery and innovation hub, announced in April. Joseph Gallagher, a specialist civil engineering company with locations in the UK and the Middle East, announced in June that it would add 10 roles in a team supporting sales growth, bid development and global projects.
Invest NI said it gave 3VRM financial assistance and provided Joseph Gallagher with advice and guidance.
Separate research from EY has also recorded a rise in activity. Its 2026 UK Attractiveness Survey found that Northern Ireland was one of only three parts of the UK to increase its number of foreign direct investment projects in 2025, with a rise of 65 per cent. Across the UK as a whole, project numbers fell 14.4 per cent to 730.
Invest NI said it delivered against 48 of its 56 activity targets in 2025-26. It did not meet its target for the share of investments located outside the Belfast Metropolitan Area, recording 59 per cent against a goal of 62.5 per cent, although Donoghue said it exceeded the target for the value of those investments.
Donoghue said the agency, like other public bodies, was facing budgetary challenges and had received a contingency allocation to continue supporting local businesses and international investors.
The agency is entering the final year of its current business strategy. It reported £1.4bn of investment over the first two years against a three-year target of £1.75bn, and 7,268 potential jobs against a target of 10,000.
