The years after the financial crisis were meant to bring a clean rebound. They didn’t.
Growth returned, but it was weak by the standards of the years before 2009. Global economic growth of around 2% to 3% a year sat well below the pre-crisis pace. Productivity was sluggish. Business investment was subdued. The world economy was moving, but without much conviction.
For governments, that changed the mood.
Growth alone wasn’t going to do the heavy lifting, so policy began to move towards strengthening sectors and building domestic capability. The early signs of today’s industrial strategy agenda were already visible, even if they weren’t yet called that.
For places competing for investment, the market became harder. Companies were more cost-conscious and more selective. Southern Europe and the Middle East started to emerge as serious challengers to the traditional investment centres of Western Europe.
The answer was focus.
At OCO, we encouraged clients to think more carefully about the type of investment activity they wanted to attract, rather than grouping everything under broad sector labels. Shared services, R&D, software development and advanced manufacturing each had their own logic, requirements and decision drivers. Understanding those differences helped clients build stronger location offers.
Large economies were doing the same. France, Italy and the UK began focusing their investment attraction efforts around a smaller number of priority activities. France Tech, UK Tech City and Italy Biosciences all reflected that move towards sharper choices.
OCO changed internally too. We began moving parts of our office footprint into shared workspaces, including WeWork, to get closer to clients and sectors while giving staff more flexibility.
The work played out in 2 useful ways.
For DBT, OCO supported the High Value Opportunities programme, targeting the supply chains behind major infrastructure investment in Asia and the Middle East. The model inverted the traditional export push. Rather than starting with individual suppliers, it began with demand and surfaced the UK capability that could meet it.
At the same time, many US states were reshaping their overseas office networks. They wanted more flexibility, stronger sector expertise and better market intelligence. OCO provided a shared service model for clients including Enterprise Florida, Missouri Department of Commerce, Maryland DED and ESD New York.
The lesson from this period is still useful. When growth is thin, places have to be sharper about where they compete. Broad messages get ignored. Clear activity, real capability and a practical route to market give investors something to work with.
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.
