Yesterday, the government announced that the UK has secured commitment from the world’s leading investors of nearly £30bn. The announcement came immediately prior to yesterday’s Global Investment Summit which took place at Hampton Court Palace and was attended by leaders of business from around the world, including big players such as Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Aviva.  

Multinationals such as Germany’s BioNTech and Iberdrola were among those committing to invest in the UK, each of which promised upwards of a billion pounds. There have also been two noteworthy commitments from Australia: pension fund Aware Super has pledged over £5bn and IFM Investors intend to invest more than £10bn in large-scale infrastructure and energy transition projects over the next four years.  The sectors up and down the UK which will reportedly benefit are extensive, including technology, life sciences, renewable energy and infrastructure and the announcement states that more than 12,000 jobs will be created from just some of the investments promised. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has commented that this commitment to investment is “a huge vote of confidence in the future of the UK economy” and that “Global CEOs are right to back Britain – we are making this the best place in the world to invest and do business”. This new wave of investor interest comes hot on the heels of the Autumn Statement which unveiled the largest business tax cuts in modern history, including a permanent extension of capital allowances and £4.3bn worth of business rates support. 

It is unclear at this stage how legally binding some of these commitments actually are, when the money will arrive in some cases or the extent to which those sums would have been spent on projects within the UK anyway – see here for some commentary to that effect. However, a more positive attitude towards investment into the UK can already be seen with Nissan’s recent announcement of a £2bn plan aiming to build three electric car models (the Qashqai, Juke and next generation Leaf) at its Sunderland factory thereby preserving jobs for around 6,000 workers and many more across the UK. Of this £2bn, Nissan has commented that around £1.12bn will be devoted to preparing its UK facilities and supply chain for the new models and training its workforce with the remainder being pumped into a new battery plant known as a "gigafactory".

Overall, this is great news for the UK’s economy and more than treble the level of investment raised at the 2021 Global Investment Summit.  To take full advantage of this opportunity, the government must continue to provide the requisite support in creating an environment that attracts overseas business to the UK. Measures have already been implemented with the Department for Business and Trade assembling an expert panel led by Professor Vanessa Knapp in a push to make it easier for foreign companies to relocate their business to the UK.

Our expertise spans many of the sectors highlighted for investment so we look forward to seeing how this boost of confidence for the UK’s economy plays out.