Villiers to promote Northern Ireland at London business event

The potential benefits of investing in Northern Ireland will be pitched to an audience of property professionals in London on Monday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is hosting the event at its headquarters in Parliament Square.

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers is due to address the reception along with senior business and property executives from Belfast.

The pitch will place an emphasis on the relative costs of locating in Belfast, where office rents are considered competitive in comparison with other UK cities.

RICS Northern Ireland director Ben Collins said: "RICS is a global body with members in senior positions in the property sector around the world, so we are using our network to help communicate the benefits of investing in Northern Ireland to a range of influential people.

“Senior RICS members from Northern Ireland involved with commercial property will have the opportunity to meet with potential investors and site locators based in London and the South East.

“Not only is Northern Ireland competitive in terms of operating costs, it also has an excellent skills base, excellent universities and the potential for corporation tax rates to be lowered.

“This is the message that we will be putting across to those attending the reception.”

John Healy, director at Citi in Belfast, and Declan Flynn, managing director of commercial property agency Lisney NI, will be among those addressing the event.

PA