The early 2000s started with a wobble.
The world avoided the millennium bug, but the dot.com bust still left damage behind, mainly across tech stocks and venture capital. The recovery came quickly. By 2001, growth had returned and the digital infrastructure built during the boom was starting to change how companies worked.
This became a period of deeper globalisation, stronger trade flows and rising investment.
For developed economies, it was also a warning. Services FDI overtook manufacturing for the first time. OEM production continued to move towards Asia and lower-cost locations. The old investment pitch, built around cost, tax and incentives, was losing force.
Places needed a sharper offer.
That meant skills. Specialist sectors. Stronger links with universities. Grade A office space. Evidence of clusters. For manufacturing regions, it also meant protecting what they had by moving up the value chain into R&D, headquarters activity and logistics.
OCO saw that shift early.
During this period, the team worked with clients to move from broad location promotion to clearer, evidence-led propositions. The focus was on understanding where a place could compete, what made it credible, and how to take that story to investors.
One example was OCO’s work with Invest Northern Ireland in 2005.
The project audited Northern Ireland’s technology companies, centres of excellence, skills base and cost position. It helped reposition the region for software R&D, financial services and ICT investment at a time when Northern Ireland needed to change how investors saw its economy.
The strategy attracted major investments from Citi, Allstate, Kainos, and First Derivatives. As a result, the number of IT jobs created through FDI increased eightfold, rising from approximately 170 in 2003 to more than 1,300 by 2007. Over the same period, Northern Ireland’s share of the UK’s technology FDI projects more than doubled, increasing from 6% to 14%.
The lesson still holds.
Economies don’t stand still. A region can lead in one activity for a time, then find the market has moved on. Business needs change. New competitors appear. FDI is restless.
Places need to keep testing their offer, backing it with evidence, and adapting before the market makes the decision for them.
Explore 25 years of innovation and impact
This story is one chapter in OCO Global’s 25-year journey. Discover the milestones, ideas and client partnerships that have shaped our work since 2001.
