Funding announced after Investment Summit

Closing the International Investment Summit, the chancellor has announced new plans to secure investment in the UK.

In her speech, chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed that restoring fiscal stability will be at the centre of her first budget at the end of the month.

Two new bodies are set to drive long-term investment in Britain as the government plans to work with business to create new high skilled jobs across the country.

The the UK Infrastructure Bank will operate as the National Wealth Fund (NWF), with its headquarters in Leeds. It is planned to catalyse tens of billions of pounds of private investment into in the UK’s clean energy and growth industries, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and gigafactories.

The National Wealth Fund will have a total of £27.8 billion and will work with key industry partners, including mayors, to support delivery of their investment plans.

Reeves said: "When we said we would end instability, make growth our national mission and enter a true partnership with business we meant it.  

"The decisions which lie ahead of us will not always be easy. But by taking the right choices to grow our economy and drive investment we will create good jobs and new opportunities across every part of the country. That is the Britain we are building."

John Flint, CEO, at the National Wealth Fund said: "It is a huge privilege to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading the National Wealth Fund. Building on the strong foundations we have laid as UKIB, we will hit the ground running, using sector insight and investment expertise that the market knows and trusts to unlock billions of pounds of private finance for projects across the UK.

"With additional capital to deploy against a bigger mandate, we stand ready to help the market invest with confidence, in support of the Government’s growth ambitions."

At the same time, the chancellor announced a new British Growth Partnership as part of the British Business Bank (BBB). The BBB already supports the UK’s fastest growing, most innovative companies deploying £3.5bn to support over 23,000 businesses last year.

Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank said: "Today’s announcement is a strong endorsement of the British Business Bank’s 10-year track record, market access and capabilities. By establishing the British Growth Partnership, the Bank will encourage more UK pension fund investment into the UK’s fastest growing, most innovative companies.

"In addition, reforms to the Bank’s financial framework, putting our £7.9bn commercial programmes on a permanent footing, means we can flexibly re-invest our investment returns over the long term to increase growth and prosperity across the UK."

The summit saw the announcement of £63 billion of investment. It is hoped this will lead to the creation of nearly 38,000 jobs.

The investment figure is more than double the £29.5 billion committed at last year’s 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.

Four major tech firms have announced £6.3 billion in UK data centres.

ABP, the UK’s 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.

Imperial College London has announced 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 UK’s 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 today’s Summit marks a major vote of confidence in the UK and our stability dividend across industry and innovation.

"We’re 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."