The number of company supraregional location decisions decreased to 26 in 2008, a sharp downswing when compared to the 41 location decisions in 2007 and the 44 in 2006. But with 10 companies, Brabant was still the most popular in 2008, figures from the Stec Group’s Database of Supraregional Location Decisions show.

Investor willingness showed a marked decrease in the second half of 2008 as a result of the financial crisis, with only ten location decisions. Location decisions for distribution centres were particularly hard-hit. On average, this sector is good for about ten supraregional location decisions per annum, but it was down to five for the whole of last year. The logistical sector is ‘prematurely cyclical’ and reacts more quickly than other sectors to an economic downturn.

In 2008 Brabant topped the popularity list with ten location decisions. The province has profited from its location, the infrastructure and the space it offers, all of which make it very appealing for both offices and logistics. This has made Breda a popular choice for Benelux offices, such as the Texaco headquarters and the share services centre of GE Global Business Services. New logistical branches that favoured Brabant were the Dylan Group and De Rooij Warehousing & Distribution in Roosendaal and Genesis Global Services, which opted for Helmond.

The Stec Group expects that the number of supraregional location decisions for 2009 will be comparable to 2008 (25 to 30), with the current slump meaning that many companies are putting their investment decisions on hold or rescinding them entirely.

Source: PropertyNL, 16 June 2009