Capital investment in post-Brexit United Kingdom isn’t a bad bet after all, if the country’s International Investment Summit organized by the government’s Department of Business and Trade (DBT) in late 2024 is any indication. (The UK’s No. 1 finish in this issue’s Global Best to Invest rankings is another.) About 38,000 jobs and £63 billion (US$83 billion) in investment were announced at the conference in London’s historic Guildhall building, more than double the investment amount set at the previous year’s gathering.
While the Labor government was quick to celebrate the success of the Investment Summit, several projects included in DBT’s event wrap-up reportedly got under way during the previous, Conservative government. Regardless, key industry sectors and locations around the UK are in for significant economic boosts.
“Global investors should be in no doubt that under this new government Britain is truly the best place to do business,” said Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in a statement. “The record-breaking investment total secured at the Summit marks a major vote of confidence in the UK and our stability dividend across industry and innovation.”
Data centers are conspicuous among the investment projects. Combined, they represent 35% of the capital investment announced. They include:
- Blackstone confirmed a £10 billion ($13.2 billion) investment in Blyth, Northumberland, to create one of the largest AI data centers in Europe, creating 4,000 jobs, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site.
- Amazon Web Services announced an £8 billion ($10.6 billion) investment last month which is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the company’s data center supply chain such as construction, facility, maintenance, engineering and telecommunications.
- CyrusOne, a leading global data center developer headquartered in the United States, announced plans to expand its investment into the UK to £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) over the coming years. Subject to planning permission, the two data centers should be operational by Q4 2028, projected to create over 1,000 jobs both directly and within its immediate design and construction value chain.
- CloudHQ is developing its new state-of-the-art £1.9 billion ($2.5 billion) data center campus in Didcot. The hyperscale data center is currently in development and will help meet the UK’s growing demand for AI and machine learning. It will create 1,500 jobs during construction, and 100 permanent jobs once fully operational.
Other industry sectors with formidable investment projects getting under way are renewable energy, particularly wind and solar farms, and infrastructure, including airports and container ports.
