BOURNEMOUTH and Poole were picked for an official visit to help UK embassy staff to promote its financial services sector around the world.

The area was among only two outside London to be put on the itinerary for the delegation from around the world.

UK Trade & Investment organised the event, with three days spent in London and one each in Manchester and the Bournemouth and Poole area.

The party began their visit by touring the global payments centre at Barclays House in Poole. They went on to a round table discussion with Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership at Bournemouth University’s Executive Business Centre on Holdenhurst Road, before visiting JP Morgan at Chaseside.

The aim was to arm delegates with first hand stories from major firms succeeding in the region.

Gordon Page, chairman of Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), told the visitors how the body had attracted government funding into the area.

“It stands out a mile from the overall trend of declining coastal resorts in the UK. What you see today is the start of a massive rebuild and upgrade programme which by 2025 will produce a resort and a business community of outstanding competitiveness,” he said.

He added: “This is a world class location – a great place to work, live and play.”

The visitors came from countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Japan, Russia, Spain, Turkey, US.

David Kane, financial services operations sector specialist with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), said the visit would build on the announcement of a South Coast Financial Centre of Excellence, launched earlier this year in.

He said: “The Financial Sectors of Excellence are aimed at two key areas. Firstly they aim to attract the firms who are looking to rationalise operations in the capital and who may be looking to seek alternative locations. We want them to choose locations within the UK but outside London, rather than look for offshore solutions.

“This does not mean that we are trying to pull roles out of London, just that if firms do look elsewhere we want that ‘elsewhere’ to still be within the UK.’

“The second aim is to furnish the UKTI staff working in foreign locations in our embassies, High Commissions and Consulates with the experience and collateral to attract more foreign direct investment into the UK."

He added: “We’ve got excellent infrastructure, extensive skills pipelines, we’ve got good IT, the language advantage, the time zone advantage across the UK’s regions”