Partnership opportunities between Aix-Marseille and the United Kingdom

Promising new contacts made and multiple future work sessions planned

From November 29 to December 2, Provence Promotion proudly carried the banner of the Aix-Marseille metro area on a trade mission to the United Kingdom. The mission, in partnership with the Euroméditerranée business district developers, allowed Provence Promotion to strengthen its ties with British economic stakeholders, meet business leader that have potential investment or relocation projects, and explore potential partnerships, particularly through discussions with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

A highlight of the trade mission was the Choose France awards ceremony that was part of a gala for investors organized by Business France UK and the French Embassy in the United Kingdom. One of the companies receiving an award was the Euro Packaging Group (EP Group), the European packaging leader that Provence Promotion is supporting as it makes its first French investment in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metro area. The trade mission was also the opportunity to meet with the Massalia Mundi community of business ambassadors in London to reinforce professional networks and boost collective efforts to promote Aix-Marseille as a European springboard for British companies.

In the wake of Brexit, Aix-Marseille is responding to the needs of British executives to establish their companies in the European market on a long-term basis. Over the past five years, the number of British companies in Aix-Marseille has risen sharply, with 15 new establishments complementing the approximately 50 companies with British equity already present in the metro area.

Since 2020, the Provence Promotion has been expanding its prospecting activities aimed at British investors. Thanks to a local liaison office in the UK, the agency now has a permanent presence in this highly strategic market. This most recent trade mission to Britain was carried out with Euroméditerannée, the developer of the international business district in Marseille that is one of France and Europe’s biggest urban renewal projects. The joint mission was an opportunity to meet with the heads of companies in the tech, transport, renewable energy, and robotics sectors while also deepening ties with public institutions and government bodies. Based on discussions with British counterparts, a range of initiatives in several cities is already planned for 2023.

Showing British companies the benefits of investing in Aix-Marseille

There is no better way to highlight the advantages and opportunities of the business ecosystem in Aix-Marseille than when an incoming company receives a Choose France award! These awards for international investors are organised by Business France under the guidance of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, and the Ministry for Regional Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities.

In Birmingham, Hélène Duchêne, the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Bernard Deflesselles, the President of Provence Promotion, gave the EP Group and three other British companies Choose France awards for their investments in France. For the EP Group, the award recognised the company’s decision to set up its manufacturing and logistics site for continental Europe and North Africa in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône outside of Marseille.

“In terms of geography and opportunities, Provence was the most logical choice for our location,” said Ibrahim Majid, the managing director of the EP Group, in front of an audience of approximately 60 British business leaders. “We want this site to be a model unit and at the cutting edge of technology.” Majid also emphasised the ambitious scope of the project, which is expected to generate an investment of €47 million and create 200 direct jobs.

In London, Provence Promotion and Euroméditerranée met with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss the opportunities offered by Aix-Marseille for the development of British companies in the European market. This work session will be the subject of intensive follow-up by Provence Promotion.

Sustainable innovation, another key advantage to setting up in Provence

As companies seek to reduce their carbon footprint, Provence’s dynamic innovation ecosystem and green industrial strategy are major draws for companies when they are considering European locations.

For Euro Packaging, whose success has been driven by its shift towards more environmentally friendly packaging solutions, the strengths of Aix-Marseille’s sustainable innovation ecosystem were a factor in their decision, including:

• Highly promising start-ups, such as the cleantech company Eranova that transforms algae into bioplastics; Euro Packaging has already chosen to invest in this company
• An industrial-port site undergoing a broad green transformation and accelerating decarbonization with pioneering projects linked to hydrogen, such as H2V and Masshylia
• Transport, logistics, and urban mobility professionals that are deeply committed to the energy transition, such as CMA CGM, which has decided to create a €1.5 billion energy transition fund to facilitate the adoption of greener energies in transport and logistics over the new five years.

Birmingham and the West Midlands: strategic and economic parallels with Aix-Marseille-Provence

Both Aix-Marseille and Birmingham-West Midlands are dedicated to experimenting with new technologies to meet the challenges of the future and these shared commitments form the foundation of possible partnerships.

As living research laboratories and major digital hubs, the two territories are supporting disruptive technologies, digital transformation, and open innovation. Aix-Marseille-Provence has a vibrant French Tech community and offers several high-calibre programmes to help start-ups develop and scale up, with both sector-specific and generalized incubators and accelerators such as ZEBOX, OBRATORI, Accélérateur M, and Marseille Innovation. Meanwhile, the Birmingham Tech network brings together technology companies through a number of initiatives and is working towards a more resilient economic future through the creation of digital jobs and stronger relationships with other technology hubs around the world.

Like Birmingham and the West Midlands, which is home to a nationally implemented prosperity and opportunity programme called the “Levelling Up Strategy”, Aix-Marseille-Provence benefits from the French government’s “Marseille en Grand” economic development plan. Furthermore, both Marseille and Birmingham are the second largest cities in their respective countries and have young, diverse populations. The East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Strategy project echoes the many training initiatives in Marseille, such as L’Épopée, La Plateforme, and Théodora that aim to increase social inclusion by providing career opportunities to young people.

It is also interesting to note that in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, both England and France are showing the same mobility trend of talent leaving the capitals of London and Paris to live and work in the regional metro areas such as Birmingham and Aix-Marseille-Provence.

These social and economic parallels between the two metro areas were the subject of discussions with the Birmingham Chambers of Commerce as leaders from both territories explore possible projects and collaborations.

As a final step in this trade mission, Provence Promotion met several members of the Massilia Mundi community of business ambassadors to involve them in the promotion of Aix-Marseille among their British professional networks.