GovWire

Nearly 38,000 UK jobs are set to be created across the UK after a total of 63 billion of investment was announced around todays International Investment Summit, turbocharging growth and innovation across the country.

The record-breaking total figure more than doubles the 29.5 billion committed at last years Global Investment Summit and spans partnerships across the infrastructure and tech sectors, including over a billion pounds in new investments announced today by DP World, Associated British Ports (ABP) and Imperial College London.

Through serious, stable governance, the UK is attracting tens of billions of pounds of new investment which is crucial to the governments driving mission of delivering economic growth. Todays historic figure demonstrates that businesses have confidence in Britain as a place to invest.

The investments follow immediate action taken by the new government to reform planning, focus on AI and data centre expansion, and set a clear commitment to net zero by almost doubling the funding for renewable energy projects.

Four major tech firms based in the US have today announced 6.3 billion in UK data centres which is critical to enhancing the UKs AI capacity in turn fuelling Britains economic growth and spurring on AI development. Data centres store the vast amount of information and data needed to power AI, and store the information generated by AI to keep the systems running.

ABP, the UKs largest port operator, has committed over 200 million to a joint investment with ferry company Stena Line in a new freight ferry terminal at the Port of Immingham, significantly boosting the capacity and resilience of UK trade with Europe. It is expected to create around 700 jobs during construction and around 200 permanent jobs once operational.

Leading UK university Imperial College London is also today announcing a 150 million investment to secure a new R&D campus to add to its rapidly expanding deep tech ecosystem in West London. The new campus will expand scale-up capacity in the WestTech Corridor, supporting the UKs innovation sector and driving investment, economic growth and job creation.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

Global investors should be in no doubt that under this new government Britain is truly the best place to do business. The record-breaking investment total secured at todays Summit marks a major vote of confidence in the UK and our stability dividend across industry and innovation.

Were determined to deliver economic growth in every part of the UK and these investments, together with our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, will give global businesses the certainty they need as we lead the charge for the innovation and jobs of the future.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:

After the investments secured as part of this summit, my optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever. Its a sign of the confidence in the British economy. And it matters because it will support the growth of businesses big and small across the U.K. Helping them create new jobs and making people better off.

CEO of ABP Henrik L. Pedersen said:

We are delighted that the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Immingham Eastern Ro-Ro Terminal (IERRT) has been granted in a timely way by the Secretary of State to allow us to move forward with investment. The IERRT project is a key component of our strategy to strengthen the UKs supply chains and improve trade connectivity, whilst also bringing substantial economic benefits including the creation of hundreds of jobs during construction and ongoing operations. IERRT forms part of the intended 5.5bn pipeline of UK investment we have in front of us over the next 10 years and we look forward to working closely with the Government to deliver the right conditions to realise this investment.

President of Imperial College London Hugh Brady said:

Imperial College London is investing in its ambitious vision for a new globally competitive deep tech innovation ecosystem in West London. The Imperial WestTech Corridor will act as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation at a local, regional, and national level supported by the Governments emerging Industrial Strategy.

Please see below for a list of all the investments announced in the run-up to and during todays International Investment Summit:

• Iberdrola doubling their investment in the UK, through Scottish Power, from 12 billion to 24 billion over the next 4 years. This includes 4 billion for the East Anglia 2 wind farm off the Suffolk coast which was unlocked by this Governments expanded allocation at the most recent wind auction round. Iberdrola Executive Chairman Ignacio Galan CBE confirmed on Friday that the UK has become their largest Investment destination.

• Blackstone confirmed a 10 billion investment in Blyth, Northumberland to create one of the largest artificial data centres in Europe, creating 4,000 jobs, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site.

• Amazon Web Services announced an 8 billion investment last month which is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the companys data centre supply chain such as construction, facility, maintenance, engineering and telecommunications.

• CCUS investors (including Eni, BP and Equinor) reached a commercial agreement with the government that will unlock 8 billion of private investment to launch carbon capture clusters in the heartlands of the North West and North East of England, directly creating 4,000 jobs and supporting 50,000 jobs in the long-term.

• Orsted and Greenvolt confirming that the Governments recent expanded offshore wind auction means their projects will unlock 8 billion (Orsted) and 2.5 billion (Greenvolt) of investment respectively in their planned offshore wind farms. Orsted says its commitment will see thousands of jobs for local people, while Greenvolt says it will create up to 2800 construction jobs.

• CyrusOne, a leading global data centre developer headquartered in the United States, announced plans to expand their investment into the UK to 2.5 billion over the coming years. Subject to planning permission, the two data centres should be operational by Q4 2028, projected to create over 1,000 jobs both directly and within its immediate design and construction value chain.

• Octopus Energy have committed to a 2 billion investment in renewable energy generation, including four new solar farms in Bristol, Essex, East Riding of Yorkshire and Wiltshire that will power up to 80,000 homes as well as breaking ground on a new 12 MW battery in Cheshire which Octopus say will store enough power for nearly 10,000 homes every day.

• SeAH Wind has made an additional 225 million investment into wind technology manufacturing in Teesside, thanks to new backing from UK Export Finance, and expects to create 750 direct jobs by 2027. This brings their total investment into the site at Teesworks up to 900 million and will help them make their ongoing factory build one of the biggest facilities of its kind worldwide even bigger.

• CloudHQ is developing its new state-of-the-art 1.9 billion data centre campus in Didcot. The hyper-scale data centre is currently in development and will help meet the UKs growing demand for AI and machine learning. It will create 1,500 jobs during construction, and 100 permanent jobs once fully operational.

• Macquarie supporting investment of 1.3 billion into new green infrastructure including its Island Green Power solar farm in Stow, as a result of planning consents having been granted by the Government, and its Roadchef portfolio company installing electric car ultra-fast charging points across its sites along the UK motorway network.

• ServiceNow also confirmed its commitment to the UK market, with plans to invest 1.15 billion into its UK business over the next five years. The investment will not only support the future development of AI in the UK, expanding its data centres with Nvidia GPUs for local processing data, but also support new office space as the company significantly grows into employee base beyond its current headcount of 1,000 employees.

• Manchester Airports Group is in

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