BUSINESS investment in the North-west has fallen for the second consecutive six month period.

According to research by Siemens Financial Services, business investment in the region is down by 2 per cent, or £1.5bn, on the same period last year.

Siemens added that spending reductions are not uniform across all company sizes as small to medium companies are being hardest hit.

The research shows that business investment growth by size for small enterprises is down by 2.54 per cent, medium sized businesses by 2.42 per cent while large companies investment has dipped by 0.9 per cent.