Fourteen overseas businesses have decided to invest in Greater Lincolnshire in the past year, creating 1,854 new jobs for the area.

Inward investment has been secured from all over the globe, including Brazil, China, the United States, Norway and Japan, and covers sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and renewable energy.

Twelve of the 14 investments have been brokered by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) working with the local councils and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government organisation that helps UK companies succeed in international markets.

The number of investments has increased by 43% on 2012-13 (14 compared to eight) and the number of jobs created has leaped by almost 500% (1,854 compared to 161).

The figures come in a report published by UKTI which show that 2013/14 has been an impressive year nationally: there was a record number of inward investment projects and the UK is still in pole position as the number one destination in Europe for foregn direct investment, and second in the world only to the United States.

The UK attracted 1,773 projects in 2013-14, up 14% from 1,559 in 2012-13. Together the investments across the UK created or safeguarded 112,000 jobs in 2013-14.

“This level of new inward investment from overseas is a fantastic achievement for the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and shows that we are moving in the right direction in terms of foreign investment and business growth,” said Ursula Lidbetter, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP.

Nine of the 14 investments (64%) were expansions, three (21%) were new investments and two (14%) were mergers and acquisitions or joint ventures.

The most significant region from which investment came was Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which accounted for 64% of the investments. The Americas made up 21% while Asia Pacific accounted for 14%.

Greater Lincolnshire LEP performed particularly strongly in the energy, environment and infrastructure category, which made up almost half (43%) of investments.