invest in belfast a guide for investors www belfastcity gov

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							invest in
belfast
a 2008
guide for
investors

www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business
invest in
belfast
a city
guide for
investors

4	    one the	investment	opportunity	
10	   two	facts	and	figures
16	   three operational	costs	
20	   four skills	and	research	
24	   five	key	business	sectors
28	   six	city	developments
34	   seven	retail
38	   eight	hotels
42	   nine	quality	of	life
“The decision to invest £13million
in Belfast was one of the easiest we
ever made…The market opportunity
in Belfast is enormous.”
Peter Horrix, Director of Store Development, House of Fraser.




                                                                the investment
                                                                opportunity
                                                                one
Belfast is a booming, self-confident city.
City living is increasing, visitor numbers
are on the up and investor confidence is
at an all time high. There are significant
new retail, office, leisure and residential
developments in the pipeline.

Many	of	its	largest	employers	    The	economic	development	          Northern	Ireland	Executive	
are	international	businesses	     of	the	city	has	been	mirrored	     –	our	regional	government	
such	as	Prudential,	Halifax,	     by	significant	investment	         administration	–	has	also	
British	Telecom,	Citibank,	       in	wider	social	and	               identified	the	need	to	grow	a	
Bombardier	and	Northbrook.	       environmental	improvements.	       dynamic,	innovative	economy	
They	see	Belfast’s	strategic	     Belfast	offers	an	exciting	        as	its	number	one	priority.			
location,	world-class	research	   programme	of	events	and	           The	international	business	
facilities,	highly	skilled	       festivals	and	boasts	a	range	of	   community	has	responded	
workforce,	competitive	           high	quality	public	realm	and	     to	this	commitment	by	
labour	and	operational	costs	     open	space.                        continuing	to	place	Belfast	at	
and	excellent	infrastructure	                                        the	centre	of	its	worldwide	
as	an	integral	element	of	        Belfast	City	Council	is	           operations	while	the	Emerald	
their	business	success.	Local	    committed	to	building	             Fund	–	established	in	both	
businesses	meanwhile	reap	        strong	links	with	investors	       Belfast	and	New	York	
the	benefits	of	high	quality	     to	ensure	that	we	can	             –	reflects	the	optimism	of	
start-up	support		                offer	a	competitive	               the	USA	in	this	city’s	ability	to	
and	guidance.                     environment	in	which	your	         offer	a	financial	return		
                                  business	will	succeed.		The	       on	investment.

                                                                                                     
Belfast
at a glance
•	 Belfast	is	the	capital	city	   •	 Telecoms	connections	          •	 Over	.1 million              •	 Belfast	attracts	a	total	of	
   of	the	second fastest             take	less	than	20	millisecs	      passengers	used	both	            6. million visitors	each	
   growing regional                  to	Europe	and	around	50	          our	airports	in	2006,	an	        year.		The	Lonely	Planet	
   economy in the UK	                millisecs	to	the	East	Coast	      increase	of	over	1	million	      describes	it	as	a	‘City	on	
   and	is	second	only	to	            of	USA.                           since	2003.                      the	Rise’.
   London	in	attracting	
   Foreign	Direct	Investment.    •	 The	2006	UK-wide	survey	 •	 The	Port	of	Belfast	is	              •	 Belfast	is	ranked	fifth	in	
                                    from	OMIS	Research,	         currently	the	second                   the	UK	for	retail	trading	
•	 Labour	costs	are	15%             “Britain’s	Best	Cities”,	    largest port	on	                       conditions,	and	fourth	
   lower than the UK	               reported	that	71%	of	        the	island	of	Ireland,	                for	retailer	confidence	
   average	while	labour	            local	respondents	were       handling	almost	60% of                 (Gerald	Eve:	‘Prime	Retail	
   turnover	is	less	than	8%.        satisfied with their         Northern Ireland’s                     Report’	–	2004).
                                    existing business            seaborne trade	and	
•	 Corporation	and	personal	        location in Belfast.         20%	of	the	entire	island’s	         •	 The	new	£320 million
   taxation	are	amongst	the	                                     sea	traffic.                           Victoria Square
   lowest in Europe.             •	 Our	two	universities	have	                                          development	opened	
                                    world-renowned	research	 •	 According	to	the	Deloitte	              in	March	2008	combining	
•	 New,	purpose-built	and	          facilities	and	boast	strong	 Global	Ranking	index	                  living,	working,	enjoyment,	
   fitted-out	office	space	         relationships	with	the	      on	hotel	occupancy	                    shopping,	dining	out	and	
   costs	are	easily	affordable,	    local	business	sector.	Both	 produced	in	March	2008,	               relaxing	in	one	lively	mix.	
   with	Belfast	currently	          have	achieved	5	star	        Belfast	was	the	second	
   maintaining	the	most             (maximum)	research           highest-ranking	UK	city	            •	 Technology costs	are	
   competitive rental               excellence	ratings	in        behind	London.                         among	the	cheapest
   rates in the UK.                 various disciplines.                                                and most competitive
                                                                                                        in Europe.


                                                                                                                                      
“Just go there. You will find
that people work well. They are
motivated. They are the best
workforce in Europe bar none.”
Ian Craig, Executive Vice President, Nortel.




                                               facts and
                                               figures
                                               two
           We are confident that Belfast offers you                                                                                            Figure	1:	Number	of	minutes	to	major	UK	cities	and	beyond

           the opportunity to compete successfully                                                                                             Liverpool    45

           in markets across the globe. But you don’t                                                                                          Edinburgh    50

           need to take our word for it. The facts                                                                                             Manchester   60


           speak for themselves.                                                                                                               Birmingham

                                                                                                                                               Bristol
                                                                                                                                                            65

                                                                                                                                                            65

                                                                                                                                               London       5
People     •	 There	are	currently	
              26,34	people	living	
                                             in Europe	-	a	fifth	of	
                                             the	population	is	less	
                                                                             •	 Belfast’s	population	
                                                                                growth	has	stabilised	                                         Paris        100
              in	the	city	while	over	        than	16	years	old.                 in	recent	years	and	is	
              645,536 people	live	in	the	                                       expected	to	grow	by	                                           Prague       150
              wider	metropolitan	area.    •	 The	working age                    0.25%	by	2016.                                                 Barcelona    160
                                             population	accounts	
           •	 The	city	has	one	of	the	       for	over	60%	of	the	city’s	                                                                       Berlin       225
              youngest populations           total	population.                                                                                 Brussels     250

                                                                                                                                               Geneva       25

Location   •	 Belfast	is	the	heart	of	
              Northern	Ireland,	located	
                                            •	 Belfast	has	two modern
                                               airports	within	20	
                                                                               many	other	locations	
                                                                               throughout	North	
                                                                                                              •	 The	Port	of	Belfast	
                                                                                                                 offers	shipping	services,	
                                                                                                                                               Madrid       25

              on	the	northeast	coast	of	       minutes	of	the	city	            America	and	Europe.               providing	over	80	freight	    Verona       440
              Ireland	and	is	part	of	the	      centre	with	regular	flights	                                      and	passenger	sailings	per	   Toronto      440
              United	Kingdom.                  throughout	the	day	to	       •	 Belfast	has	excellent	            week	to	Great	Britain	
                                               London	(75	minute	flight),	     road,	rail	and	sea	links	to	      and	10	direct	container	      New	York     445
           •	Our	closest	major	cities	         Manchester	(60	minutes),	       Ireland,	the	UK,	Europe	          sailings	per	week	to	
                                                                                                                                               Vancouver    20
             by	car	include	Dublin	            Edinburgh	(50	minutes),	        and	beyond.                       mainland	Europe.
             (103.9	miles/	167.2	              Paris	(100	minutes),	Berlin	                                                                    Minutes      0                                                  500   20
             km),	Londonderry	(71.4	           (225	minutes),	New	
             miles/114.9	km).		                York	(440	minutes)	and	                                                                         Source: www.belfastairport.com, Belfast International Airport


12                                                                                                                                                                                                                     13
Figure	2:	Changing	             Total workplace employment (000s)                                                                     Figure	3:	Percentage	share	of	VAT	registered	businesses	in	Belfast	–	2007	
employment	sectors	
                                                                                                                                      35%
                                                                                                                                      30%
                                                                                                                                      25%
                                                                                                                                      20%
                                                                                                                                      15%
                                                                                                                                      10%
                                                                                                                                      5%
                                                                                                                                      0%
                                                                                                                                             30.6%          1.1%       .%       .4%        6.6%      6.2%        5.0%        3.1%        2.%        2.%        2.6%         0.%         0.%         0.3%
Source: Belfast skills demand                                                                                                            Property	and	      Retail   Public	Admin	 Hotels Construction Wholesale Production   Transport     Finance   Motor	Trades   Health   Post	&	Telecom Education   Agriculture
and supply report, Regional                                                                                                             Business	Services              &	Other	 &	Catering
                                                                                                                                                                       Services
Forecasts, 200
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Source: www.statistics.gov.uk, UK Business Activity, Size and Location 200




Economy                         •	 Gross	Value	Added	
                                   (GVA)	per	capita	for	
                                                                    •	 Belfast	is	the	capital	city	
                                                                       of	the	second fastest
                                                                                                      •	 Employment	sectors	
                                                                                                         within	Belfast	are	
                                                                                                                                      •	 Belfast	is	the	second
                                                                                                                                         most successful
                                                                                                                                                                    •	 Unemployment	has	
                                                                                                                                                                       fallen	by	75%	since	1991	
                                                                                                                                                                                                     •	 This	represents	
                                                                                                                                                                                                        an	injection	of	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        •	 The	number	of		VAT
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           registered businesses*
                                   Belfast	is	£26,2. The	            growing regional                  changing.	Financial	and	        region	in	the	UK	(behind	     and	currently	stands	            £324.1million into		                                               has increased by 45%	
                                   trend	in	productivity	              economy	in	the	UK.	               business	services	are	          London)	in	attracting         around	4%.                       the	economy,	supporting	                                           from	6,265	registered	
                                   for	Belfast	is	promising;	                                            projected	to	drive              Foreign Direct                                                 over	1,000 full                                                   businesses	in	2006	
                                   between	2000	and	2005	           •	 There	are	12,23	                Belfast’s employment            Investment.                •	 In	2006	over	6.8	million	        time jobs.                                                         to	9,125	registered	
                                   GVA	per	capita	in	Belfast	          employee	jobs	in	the	             growth	accounting	for	                                        visitors	came	to	Belfast,	an	                                                                       businesses	in	2007.		Our	
                                   increased by 35.3%.                 city,	30% of the total            three-quarters	of	overall	   •	 Labour	costs	are	15%	         increase of 6.3%	from	                                                                              main	business	sectors	
                                                                       employment	in	                    net	new	jobs	between	           lower	than	the	UK	            the	previous	year.                                                                                  include	Property	and	
                                                                       Northern	Ireland.                 now	and	2015.                   average	while	labour	                                                                                                             Business	Services	(30.6%)	
                                                                                                                                         turnover	is	less	than	8%.	                                                                                                        and	Retail	(19.1%).		
                                                                                                                                      * It is compulsory for UK business to register for VAT if sales of taxable goods and services provided in the previous 12 month period exceed £67,000


14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               15
“Set-up costs in Belfast were
significantly less than some of the
other major business centres in
the UK.”
Jason Malone - Stonia Software Ltd.




                                      operational
                                      costs
                                      three
The benefits of setting                                                                                                                New businesses can benefit from a variety
up a business in Belfast                                                                                                               of tax allowances and reliefs which cut tax
include the very                                                                                                                       bills. These include capital allowances for
competitive operational                                                                                                                investment in equipment and premises
costs and the liberal                                                                                                                  and tax relief and credits for spending on
taxation regime.                                                                                                                       research and development.


New,	purpose-built	and	          Location            *Prime Office Rent
                                                            per sq ft (£)
                                                                            Total • Occupancy Cost
                                                                                        per sq ft (£)
                                                                                                        Figure	4:	Comparison	of	       •	 Corporation	and	            •	 Capital allowances            •	 Tax	credits	for	research	   •	 Research	and	
fitted-out	office	space	costs	                                                                          prime	office	rents	in	major	      personal	taxation	levels	      are very generous	               and	development	are	           development	tax	relief	
                                 Belfast                            14.00                       22.50
are	easily	affordable,	with	                                                                            cities                            are	amongst the                for	expenditure	on	plant	        available	to	stimulate	        rates	of	175%	for	SMEs	
Belfast	currently	maintaining	   Birmingham                         32.50                       47.00                                     lowest in Europe.              and	equipment	including	         scientific	innovation		        (up	to	250	employees)	
the	most competitive             Bristol                            27.50                       41.00                                                                    40%	in	the	first	year	for	       for	SMEs.                      and	130%	for	companies	
rental rates in the UK	          Dublin                             47.20                       60.20                                  •	 Capital	grants	are	not         SMEs	(Small	and	Medium	                                         with	500	plus	employees	
(prime	office	rent	in	Belfast	                                                                                                            taxable (a	unique	             Sized	Enterprises)	in	some	                                     are	to	be	implemented.
                                 Glasgow                            27.50                       40.00
is	£14.00	per	sq	ft).	By	                                                                                                                 position	within	the	UK).       instances.
comparison	Dublin’s	prime	       Leeds                              25.00                       38.50
office	rent	is	70%	higher	       Liverpool                          22.00                       32.50
than	Belfast’s,	while	London	    London	(City)                      62.50                       88.50   Source:
(City)	is	78%	higher	and	        London	(West	End)                 120.00                     161.00    *Global Market Rents
London	(West	End)	is	88%	                                                                               (November 200)
                                 Manchester                         28.50                       44.00
higher.                                                                                                 CB Richard Ellis




1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             1
“We have access to highly qualified
graduates from Queen’s and the
University of Ulster. We have no
shortage of top calibre applicants
whenever we are recruiting, which
is a very good position to be in.”
Mark Donaghy, Andor Technology.




                                      skills and
                                      research
                                      four
Education standards in the city’s                                                                                        There are also other globally recognised
grammar and secondary schools are                                                                                        research centres including:
among the highest in the UK. Northern
Ireland students at GCSE, GCE AS Level
and GCE A Level continue to out-perform
their UK counterparts.

There	are	two	top	            Queen’s	University	Belfast	   The	two	universities	both	    Research area          RAE     •	 The	Institute	                •	 The	Centre	for	Cancer	     •	 QUESTOR	at	Queen’s	            •	 The	Integrated	Aircraft	
universities	in	the	city:	    is	a	member	of	the	           have	world-renowned	                                rating      of	Electronics,	                 Research	and	Cell	Biology	    University	of	Belfast	            Technologies	Research	
Queen’s	University	Belfast	   influential	Russell Group     research	facilities.		Both	   Electrical and            5       Communications	and	              at	Queen’s	University	        is	an	international               Centre	at	Queen’s	
and	the	University	of	        of universities	-		a	group	   have	achieved	research        electronic                        Information	Technology	          Belfast	has	over	300          environmental                     University	Belfast	
Ulster.	In	2006/07	there	     of	20	universities	which	     excellence in various         engineering                       (ECIT)	is	a	£60                  clinical and basic            research co-operative. 	          focuses	on	aerospace	
were	a	total	of	47,970	       promote	a	culture	of	         disciplines. 	In	the	last	    Mechanical,               5       million world-class	             researchers	from	across	      It	provides	member	               applications.		Specialised	
undergraduate	and		           research	excellence	and	      Research	Assessment	          aeronautical and                  centre.	ECIT	brings	             the	world	conducting	         organisations	with	a	highly	      areas	of	research	include	
7,080	postgraduate		          which	account	for	65%	        Exercise	(RAE)	carried	       manufacturing                     together,	in	one	building,	      cancer	research.              focused,	industry-led	            aerodynamics	and	
                                                                                          engineering                       internationally	renowned	                                      environmental	research	           acoustics,	structures	and	
students	of	which	18,645	     of	the	research	grant	and	    out	in	2001,	both	achieved	
students	were	enrolled	in	    contract	income	of	all		      numerous	five	star	           Biomedical sciences       5       research	groups	from	                                          programme,	delivered	by	          materials,	integration	and	
IT-related	disciplines.		     UK	universities.              (maximum)	ratings	in	the	     Civil engineering         5       Queen’s	University,	                                           a	multi-disciplinary	staff	at	    systems	engineering	and	
                                                            following	disciplines.                                          specialising	in	key	areas	                                     world	class	environmental	        bio	fluids.
                                                                                                                            of	advanced	digital	                                           research	institutions.
                                                                                                                            and	communications	
                                                                                                                            technology.




22                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    23
     ‘The city has a highly skilled
     technical workforce, which makes
     it an ideal fit for our research and
     development centre. And from a
     geographic perspective, Belfast
     provides us with an ideal base for
     serving our European customers.’
     Alan Black, President and CEO of Intelliden.




                                                    key business
                                                    sectors
                                                    five
24                                                            25
Many of the Belfast’s business sectors and
industries are leading the way in terms of
innovation and creativity on a global scale.

Belfast	is	home	to	a	strong   Financial services               Northern	Ireland	to	address	      ICT                            have	successfully	tapped	       and	design.		Annual	turnover	   accounted	for	76%	of	total	       of	a	demanding	marketplace.	
software, financial                                            their	recruitment	difficulties	                                  into	international	markets	     levels	for	Belfast	companies	   exports.	This	is	£11.2billion,	   Businesses	which	have	
services and telecoms         The	financial	services	sector	   while	retaining their tax         Belfast’s ICT sector has       as	well	as	the	academic         range	from	£30,000	to	          representing	an	increase	         already	made	a	significant	
sector,	but	is	also	          employs	over	20,000              incentives.                       grown rapidly over the         research and support	           £15	million	and	almost	7	       of	5.7	%	(£610million).		         investment	in	the	city	include	
embracing	new	sectors	of	     people	and	includes	key	                                           past number of years	          which	encourages	further	       out	of	10	companies	are	        Key	companies	include	            HCL,	Gem,	HBoS	and	Abbey.
excellence	in	areas	such	     investors	such	as	Citi,	the	                                       and	the	software	area	has	     innovation	and	development	     micro-businesses,	employing	    Bombardier	Aerospace	and	
as	creative	industries	and	   Allstate	Corporation,	Liberty	   Life sciences                     developed,	particularly	in	    in	the	sector.                  less	than	10	people.		Key	      Delta	Packaging.
advanced	manufacturing.       Mutual,	Wombat	Financial	        Belfast’s	life	and	health	        financial	services,	mobile	                                    companies	include	Inferno,	
                              Software	and	HBoS	as	            technology	sector	has	            communications,	internet	                                      Rogue	Rocket,	Net-Finity	
World-class	businesses	       well	as	many	indigenous	         shown	strong	growth	in	           and	e-commerce.		Ready	        Creative                        and	Awakin.
                                                                                                                                                                                                Contact
located	in	Belfast	include	   companies.		Around	13,000	       recent	years,	grounded	           access	to	a	highly-skilled     industries                                                      centre services
                              students	are	currently	taking	   in	leading-edge	research	         and loyal workforce	and	
Microsoft,	Citigroup,	
Bombardier	Aerospace	         finance	related	courses	at	      in	areas	such	as	oncology,	       the	existence	of	an	already	
                                                                                                                                The	creative	industries	        Manufacturing                   An	abundance	of	young,	
                                                                                                                                sector	is	one	of	Belfast’s	                                     well-educated	people	
and	Fujitsu.                  undergraduate	level.		           genomic	and	proteomics.		         thriving	local	industry	has	   fastest	growing	sectors	        Belfast	has	a	strong            exuding	natural	friendliness	
                                                               In	recent	years	through	          led	major	companies	such	      with	over	1,000 creative        traditional                     has	seen	Belfast	emerge	as	
Key	sectors	for	potential	    An	innovative	cooperation	       indigenous	growth	and	            as	Nortel	Networks	and	        businesses	based	in	the	        manufacturing base	and	         a	leading international
investors	are	as	follows:     scheme	between	Northern	         global	acquisition,	sales         BT	to	choose	Belfast	as	a	     city,	employing	over	17,000	    the	sector	continues	to	play	   contact centre location. 	
                              Ireland	and	the	Republic	        throughout the life               location	for	their	software	   people.	Important		             an	important	role	in	the	       As	the	focus	shifts	from	cost	
                              of	Ireland	launched	in	April	    science sector have               operations.		The	rapid	        sub-sectors	for	Belfast	        city’s	economy,	accounting	     reduction	to	value	creation,	
                              2008	will	allow	financial	       almost doubled, while	            growth	of	the	sector	owes	     include	film	and	television,	   for	approximately	11%	          the	city	is	well	placed	to	
                              services	companies	based	        employment	levels	have	           much	to	a	number	of	           digital	media,	and	fashion	     of	employment.		In	2006	        meet	the	demanding	needs	
                              in	Dublin	to	expand	to	          increased	by	around	40%.          indigenous	companies	who	                                      the	manufacturing	sector	


26                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2
     “I’m so impressed by the amazing
     change and the transformation…
     the spirit of development, the spirit
     of optimism.”
     Daniel Libeskind, Studio Daniel Libeskind, New York.




                                                            developments
                                                            city
                                                            six
2                                                                    2
The city skyline is rapidly changing, with
regeneration and development taking
place at an unprecedented rate.

Confidence	is	high	and	          is	evidence	that	market	         Northern Ireland                 open	in	August	2008.		This	    Recovery	Park	and	new	            required	to	cater	for	a	       Royal Exchange                     Sirocco Quays
hundreds of thousands            failure	has	been	addressed	                                       major	new	development	         waste	management	facility	        projected	doubling in the
of square metres	of	office	      and	regeneration	secured.	       Science Park                     will	deliver	21,000	sqm	of	    comprising	48	hectares	           level of traffic	handled	by	   This	key	site	fronts	the	prime	    Sirocco	Quays	is	a	16	acre	
space,	hotels	and	private	       This	momentum	will	lead	                                          additional	multi-functional	   will	be	a	clean,	high	quality,	   the	Port	by	2025.	             retailing	pitch	of	Royal	Avenue	   mixed-use	regeneration	
residential	accommodation	       to	investment	of	£1,200          Northern	Ireland	Science	        workspace.	                    modern	industrial	park,	                                         and	is	located	between	the	        waterfront	project	in	the	
are	currently under              million, with	275,000sqm	of	     Park	(NISP)	provides	flexible	                                  a	new	sustainable                 Capital	investment	projects	   two	main	shopping	centres	         centre	of	Belfast	overlooking	
                                                                  business	accommodation	          www.nisp.co.uk                 development concept               during	2008	include	the	       of	Castlecourt	and	Victoria	       the	River	Lagan.		The	scheme	
construction	or	being	           offices	and	1,750	residential	
planned	across		                 units	by	2010.	Meanwhile,	       and	enterprise	support	for	                                     for 21st century Belfast.         completion	of	a	new	£35	       Square.	It	is	supported	           will	consist	of	approximately	
the	city.		The	legacy	of	        across	the	city,	1,600	new	      hi-tech	companies	within	        North Foreshore                www.belfastcity.gov.uk/
                                                                                                                                                                    million	facility	for	Stena	    by	the	Department	of	              2,200	residential	apartments,	
                                                                  the	180	acre	Titanic	Quarter	                                                                     line	at	Victoria	Terminal	     Social	Development.		The	          8,900	sqm	of	office	space,	
the	former	Laganside	            bed	spaces	will	become	
                                                                  site.	The	organisation	has	      – Giant’s Park                 development
                                                                                                                                                                    4,	extension	of	the	Port’s	    development	is	a 4,000            4,000	sqm	of	restaurant	
Corporation	is	apparent	         available	in	a	range	of	new	
in	a	range	of	iconic	            hotel	developments	within	       four	facilities	currently	       Belfast	City	Council’s	                                          deep	water	berth,	road	        sqm	mixed	use,	retail-             space	and	8,700	sqm	of	
developments	which	have	         the	next	five	years.		           in	operation	offering	           North	Foreshore	Giant’s	       Port of Belfast                   improvements	and	general	      led	regeneration	scheme	           retail	space	along	with	a	four	
brought	life	back	to	the	                                         over	10,000sqm of                Park	is	a	trail	blazing	                                         infrastructure	projects.       comprising	39,000sqm	of	           star	hotel.
                                                                  lettable space.	Current	                                        In	July	2007,	the	Port	of	                                       retail	space,	8,600sqm	office	
area	around	the	River	           Some	of	the	city’s	key	                                           regeneration	initiative	on	    Belfast	announced	plans	to	
                                                                  accommodation	is	fully	          a	137	hectare	site	on	the	                                       www.belfast-harbour.co.uk      space,	240	apartments	             Construction	on	the	
Lagan	including	Belfast	City	    development	projects	                                                                            reclaim	120	acres	of	land	
Council’s	Belfast	Waterfront.	   include:                         let	to	companies	ranging	        edge	of	Belfast	Lough,	                                                                         and	700	car	park	spaces.	          scheme	is	scheduled	to	
                                                                  from	global	giants	like	Citi	                                   from	Belfast	Lough	at	a	                                         Construction	is	likely	to	         commence	in	2009	and	has	
This	transformed	area	is	                                                                          two	miles	from	Belfast	        cost	of	£630 million to
the	focus	of	economic	                                            and	Microsoft,	through	          city	centre.	An	89	hectare	                                                                     get	underway	in	2009	and	          a	10 year development
                                                                  to	spin-out	projects	from	                                      accommodate economic                                             will	be	completed	by	2013.	        programme.
and	social	regeneration,	                                                                          public	park	will	transform	    growth.	According	to	an	
with	over	14,700	jobs	now	                                        Queen’s	University	Belfast	      the	site	into	a	must-see                                                                        The	project	will	involve	
                                                                                                                                  independent	economic	                                            investment of up to                www.carvill-group.com
located	here.	The	current	                                        and	University	of	Ulster.		      visitor attraction. 	The	
                                                                  The	first	phase	of		the	                                        impact	report,	such	                                             £360 million.
development	momentum	                                                                              Environmental	Resources	       significant	investment	is
                                                                  Concourse	building	is	due	to	                                                                                                    www.ewartproperties.com

30                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                31
                                                                                                          North Foreshore-
                                                                                                            Giant’s Park




                                                                                                                             Port of Belfast       Northern Ireland
Titanic Quarter                 the Titanic, over	7,000sqm	      The	scheme	incorporates	                                                           Science Park
                                of	retail	space	and	a	further	   two	covered,	multi-level	
One	of	Europe’s	largest         education	college.               streets	linked	to	a	huge	glass	
waterfront regeneration                                          dome	with	viewing	platform.                                                       Titanic Quarter
developments	on	the	            www.titanicquarter.com
banks	of	Belfast’s	River	                                        www.victoriasquare.com
Lagan,	Titanic	Quarter	is	      Victoria Square
transforming	75	hectares	of	
former	shipyard	lands	into	a	    Belfast’s	newest	retail-led	
new	focal	point	for	Belfast.     development	opened	at	
                                 Victoria	Square	in	the	city	
Phase	one	is	under	way	          centre	in	March	2008	at                                                                                                              Sirocco Quays
and	phase	two	has	outline	       a cost of £320 million.                                           Royal Exchange
planning	permission	             Covering	a	1.8	hectare	site,	
approved.		These	two	phases	 the	development	includes	                                                                           Victoria Square
cover	a	quarter	of	the	          68,000	sqm	of	retail	space	
entire	site	and	will	include	    (including	a	20,000sqm	
around	2,500	residential	        House	of	Fraser	anchor	
units,	over	50,000	sqm	of	       store),	106	apartments,	
workspace,	10,000	sqm	of	        1,000	car	park	spaces	and	an	
leisure	facilities,	two	hotels,	 eight	screen	Odeon	cinema	
a	signature	tourism	project	     due	to	open	by	June	2008.
to	mark	the	birthplace of


32                                                                                                                                                                                    33
“The premium retail sector in
Belfast has been under-served
for many years.Victoria Square
represents a huge opportunity
for high-end retailers.”
Councillor Michael Browne,
Chair of Development, Belfast City Council.




                                              seven
                                              retail
With a combined retail spend of more
than £2.5 billion per annum, Belfast offers
an impressive location proposition.


It	is	home	to	many	famous	       a	business	location,	which	       	The	opening	of		Victoria	
UK	high	street	stores,	but	      includes	retailing.		The	         Square	in	March	2008	
also	offers	a	diverse	number	    survey	ranks	Belfast	the	         marked	a	new	era	in	
of	independent	specialist	       tenth	best	city	ahead	of	         shopping	for	Belfast.		
shops,	ranging	from	antiques	    Bristol	and	Newcastle.	           Premium	retail	outlets	
and	fashion	boutiques,	to	                                         such	as	House	of	Fraser,	
delicatessens	and	specialist	    Belfast	is	the	main	retail	       Cruise,	Hugo	Boss,	Urban	
book	stores.	                    location	in	Northern	             Outfitters	and	Tommy	
                                 Ireland	with	a	primary            Hilfiger	have	moved
There	are	34 retail             catchment population              Belfast into the top 10
outlets	in	Belfast’s	prime	      of 1. million,	both	in	          cities in the UK for	retail	
retail	area,	an	increase	of	     Northern	Ireland	and	             offering.		
58%	since	2006.		                also	including	parts	of	the	
                                 Republic	of	Ireland.		The	city	
The	2006	UK-wide	survey	         has	an	affluent	consumer	
from	OMIS	Research,	             profile	with	‘wealthy	
“Britain’s	Best	Cities”,	        executives’	and	‘flourishing	
provides	an	evaluation	of	       families’	representing	26.6%	
28	of	the	UK’s	largest	cities	   of	the	shopper	population	
and	ranks	these	according	       (CACI).
to	the	their	attraction	as	

36                                                                                                3
     “Belfast hotels are among the most
     in demand on the planet”
     The Irish News




                                          hotels
                                          eight
3                                                 3
The Lonely Planet Bluelist featured
Northern Ireland as one of the hot
destinations for 200.



This	has	translated	into	rising	   Bureau	provides	a	full	range	   There	are	over	40	              number one Hilton in
hotel	occupancy	levels	as	         of	support	services.		The	      hotels	in	the	Belfast	area,	    the UK	for	customer	care	
Belfast	continues	to	record	       landmark	Belfast	Waterfront	    providing	over	3,000	           for	the	third	time	in	a	row	in	
the	highest	room	occupancy	        has	been	ranked	as	the	         rooms	ranging	from	budget	      the	past	two	years,	beating	
rates	within	Northern	             second best congress            accommodation	to	opulent	       77	of	Hilton’s	other	UK	
Ireland	at	82%.		According	to	     centre in the world             five	star	suites.	Hotels	       hotels.
the	Deloitte	Global	Ranking	       (International	Association		    include	the	luxury	Merchant,	
index	on	hotel	occupancy	          of	Congress	Centres,			         the	world	famous	Europa,	       	
produced	in	March	2008,	           AIPC	Award).                    the	Malmaison	Belfast	and	
Belfast	was	ranked	15th,	the	                                      the	Radisson	SAS.
second highest-ranking
UK city behind London.                                             The	Merchant	Hotel	is	
                                                                   proud	to	be	included	in	the	
Belfast’s	hotels	offer	world	                                      new	Condé	Nast	Traveller	
class	conference	and	                                              Hot	List	of	the	World’s
meeting	facilities	while	the	                                      Best Hotels	while	the	
city’s	Visitor	and	Convention	                                     Belfast	Hilton	has	been	
                                                                   named	as	the	



40
“Belfast is one of the 10 best
destinations in the world –
a ‘must visit’ location among
the places where ‘anybody
who’s anybody’ will visit.”
The London Times




                                 quality
                                 of life
                                 nine
In the last few years, Belfast has seen
dramatic improvements in the quality of
life enjoyed by its citizens and its millions
of new visitors.
Culture                          drama,	literature,	visual	arts,	    Film	Festival,	the	Titanic	   Between	2003/04	and	
                                 many	world	renowned	                Festival	and	Opera	in	the	    2006/07	the	crime	rate	in	
Belfast’s	cultural	traditions	   international	festivals	and	        Gardens	in	Botanic	Gardens.   Belfast	fell	by	8%.		
and	communities	have	a	          historical	events	to	the	city.		
wealth	of	diverse	artistic	                                       The	St Patrick’s Day
expression	and	the	city	has	     Belfast	is	punctuated	by	        festival	in	March	offers	a	
                                                                                                   Parks and
produced internationally         beautiful	Victorian	and	         carnival	atmosphere	for	all	     open space
renowned artists	such	           Edwardian	buildings	which	       the	family	with	a	wonderful	     Belfast	is	a	green	city	and	
as	Grammy	award	winning	         continue	to	enhance	the	         and	colourful	parade	making	     its	neighbourhoods	are	
Van	Morrison,	pianist	           lives	of	today’s	citizens	with	a	its	way	through	the	city	        interspersed	with	almost	
Barry	Douglas	and	Oscar-         rich	architectural	heritage.     centre	streets.	Belfast	also	    50	parks,	ranging	from	
nominated	actor	Kenneth	                                          plays	host	to	the	biggest	       small	local	facilities	to	the	
Branagh.		                                                        ‘Orange parade’	on	
                                 Festivals                        12	July	each	year,	which	
                                                                                                   expansive	Botanic	Gardens,	
                                                                                                   home	of	the	legendary	Palm	
In	the	past	decade,	Belfast’s	   There	are	many	                  attracts	tens	of	thousands	of	   House	and	location	for	
cultural	renaissance	has	        opportunities	for	celebration	 participants	and	spectators.       many	concerts	and	other	
witnessed	the	arrival	of	        in	Belfast	with	its	rich	and	                                     public	events.
a	new generation of              diverse	cultural	heritage.		
visitor attractions,	            Over	half a million
                                                                  Safety
hotels,	restaurants,	bars	       people	participate	in	the	55 Belfast	is	one	of	the	safest	
and	a	myriad	of	cultural	        festivals	in	the	city	including	 cities	in	the	UK	and	crime	
activity	including	classical	    Queen’s	University’s	annual	 rates	are	low	in	comparison	
and	contemporary	music,	         Belfast	Festival,	the	Belfast	   to	other	UK	cities.		

44                                                                                                                                  45
Web resources
Belfast City Council                                        Future Belfast                                                  Go To Belfast                                                    Disclaimer
                                                                                                                                                                                             While	every	effort	has	been	
www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business                             www.futurebelfast.co.uk                                         www.gotobelfast.com
                                                                                                                                                                                             made	to	ensure	that	the	
The	council	offers	a	broad	range	of	services	to	business    Overview	of	key	developments	in	Belfast                         The	official	visitor	information	and	accommodation	              information	contained	in	this	
                                                                                                                            reservation	website	for	Belfast.		Find	visitor	information	on	   document	was	correct	at	the	
Investment Belfast                                          Belfast City Airport
                                                                                                                            a	range	of	topics	such	as	events,	transport,	tours,	museums,	
                                                                                                                            restaurants,	pubs	and	clubs
                                                                                                                                                                                             time	of	publication,	Belfast	
                                                                                                                                                                                             City	Council	cannot	take	
www.investmentbelfast.com                                   www.belfastcityairport.com                                                                                                       responsibility	for	its	currency.	
Information	on	Belfast	for	investors                                                                                                                                                         To	guarantee	complete	
                                                            Information	on	flights,	passenger	safety	and	latest	news        Events in Belfast                                                accuracy	please	refer	
                                                                                                                            www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events
Invest Northern Ireland                                     Belfast International Airport                                   Calendar	of	all	events	taking	place	in	the	city
                                                                                                                                                                                             directly	to	the	organisations	
                                                                                                                                                                                             responsible	for	primary	data	
www.investni.com                                            www.belfastairport.com                                                                                                           collection.
Invest	NI’s	role	is	to	grow	the	Northern	Ireland	economy	   Information	on	flights,	car	parking	and	latest	news             Northern Ireland Statistics
by	helping	new	and	existing	businesses	to	compete	                                                                          & Research Agency                                                Having trouble reading
internationally,	and	by	attracting	new	investment	                                                                                                                                           this document?
                                                            Belfast Harbour                                                 www.nisra.gov.uk                                                 ‘Invest	in	Belfast’	is	available	in	
Northern Ireland Business info                              www.belfast-harbour.co.uk                                       The	principal	source	of	official	statistics	information	on	      alternative	formats.	Just	call	
                                                            The	port	of	Belfast	is	Northern	Ireland’s	principal	maritime	   Belfast	and	Northern	Ireland                                     Freephone	0800	0855412	or	
www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk                                                                                                                                                                     text	phone	+44	(0)28	9027	
                                                            gateway,	serving	the	Northern	Ireland	economy	and	
Northern	Ireland’s	online	business	advice	service           increasingly	that	of	the	Republic	of	Ireland                                                                                     0405.	You	can	also	download	
                                                                                                                                                                                             it	from	our	website.	If	there	is	
                                                                                                                                                                                             investment	information	about	
Belfast Online                                                                                                                                                                               Belfast	which	we	have	not	
www.belfastcityonline.net                                                                                                                                                                    covered	in	this	document	tell	
A	comprehensive	portal	of	resources	from	Belfast’s	                                                                                                                                          us	about	it	and	we	may	add	it	
government	organisations	including	resources	for		                                                                                                                                           to	a	future	edition.
businesses	and	investors

46                                                                                                                                                                                                                           4
invest in
belfast
a 2008
guide for
investors
Published	May	2008       T:	+44	(0)28	9032	0202
Development	Department   F:	+44	(0)28	9027	0325
Belfast	City	Council     economicdevelopment@belfastcity.gov.uk
4-10	Linenhall	Street    www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business
Belfast	BT2	8BP
Northern	Ireland

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