With over 19.5 million residents and 95 million visitors a year, Florida ranks as the 18th largest economy in the world, if it were considered a nation. Florida is a business super-state, offering unique advantages for British companies seeking to conduct business throughout the Western Hemisphere. Here, they can manufacture products for shipment globally, locate their regional or hemispheric headquarters, or use Florida’s excellent distribution and logistics facilities to access key markets.

Florida is committed to becoming the best state in the US for business by reducing already low business costs and tax
burdens and by providing expedited permitting and regulatory assistance to businesses locating or expanding in the state.

FLORIDA’S KEY INDUSTRIES

• Aviation & Aerospace
• Cleantech
• Defence/Homeland security
• Financial/Professional services
• Information & Communications Technologies (ICT)
• Life Sciences
• Logistics & Distribution
• Manufacturing

These industries play a key role in the state’s economic success and competitiveness. Florida’s skilled workforce,
cutting-edge R&D, top infrastructure and pro-business environment have been critical to building successful industry
clusters in the state.

UK INVESTMENT IN FLORIDA
Florida ranks 7th in the nation in terms of employment through foreign direct investment (FDI) and, with 238,600
jobs supported by majority foreign-owned companies, it ranks 1st in the south eastern US.

• The UK is among the top sources of FDI and persons employed by foreign majority-owned firms
• In 2011, British majority-owned companies employed more Floridians than companies from any other foreign
country – about 43,600 people. More than one in six Floridians working for a foreign-affiliated company was
employed by a British firm

TRADE
$158 billion worth of merchandise trade flowed through Florida’s airports and seaports in 2013, making the state one of the world’s leaders in international trade. As a leading Western Hemisphere commercial hub, Florida is a major transshipment and distribution centre for goods moving between Latin America, the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

Many international firms select Florida for its easy access to global markets. Florida is host to some 300 regional
and hemispheric headquarters of companies from all over the world, a vibrant international banking centre and a
diplomatic hub with a Consular Corps representing some 80 nations.

BRITISH EXPORTS TO FLORIDA
Florida’s airports and seaports act as gateways for nearly $1 billion in goods destined for the United Kingdom each year.

High tech products such as computers, aircraft/spacecraft and their parts and medical/surgical instruments account for 47 per cent of all total imports. Other leading British imports include transportation equipment, machinery and chemicals.

UK IMPORTS FROM FLORIDA
Florida’s airports and seaports act as gateways for nearly $1 billion in goods destined for the United Kingdom each year.

High tech products such as computers, aircraft/spacecraft and their parts and medical/surgical instruments account for 47 per cent of all total imports. Other leading British imports include transportation equipment, machinery and chemicals.

UK-FLORIDA CULTURAL CONNECTIONS
British heritage, culture and traditions are preserved in Florida through more than 20 active civic clubs, chambers
of commerce and other community-based organisations with a UK focus, including the British-American Business
Council chapter in Tampa. In addition, British tourists comprise the third largest group of international visitors to Florida with over 1.5 million in 2013.

CONSIDER FLORIDA, THE PERFECT CLIMATE FOR BUSINESS
Few sites in the Western Hemisphere can match Florida’s strategic business advantages and remarkable quality of life.

Contact Enterprise Florida, the official economic development organisation for the state, to discuss the benefits your company can gain by growing in Florida.