Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch welcomed business leaders to Hampton Court Palace today (27 November) for the Global Investment Summit.
The event began with the announcement that £29.5bn in funds had already been secured for sectors such as life sciences, infrastructure, housing and renewable energy. It’s claimed that this initial funding will create over 12,000 jobs.
Sunak described the investment as a “huge vote of confident in the future of the UK economy”.
“Global CEOs are right to back Britain - we are making this the best place in the world to invest and do business.”
Attendees
Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Bank will attend as principal partners.
CEOs from the world of finance include JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs leaders Jamie Dimon and David Solomon, along with investment firm Blackstone’s Stephen Schwartzman.
Oz investment
Australia’s global investment manager, IFM investors, has pledged £10bn for energy and infrastructure projects, to be delivered over the next four years.
The group will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) to explore further opportunities.
Another Australian group, Aware Super, has committed more than £5m in funding, with chief executive Deanne Stewart touting the UK-Australia free trade deal among the many “compelling factors” prompting the group to invest in the UK.
Tech funds
On the heels of the UK’s inaugural AI Safety Summit, Microsoft pledged £2.5bn to build AI infrastructure, which will lead to new AI datacentres and graphic processing units being built in the UK.
Research and development will also see a boost, with £1bn from the Ellison Institute of Technology being directed towards its recently announced Oxford Campus. The new interdisciplinary research and development facility is being designed to address biomedical challenges, with a planned oncology clinic.
Stale funds
The Guardian highlighted that not all of the £29.5bn invested is fresh funding, with Scottish Power’s Spanish owner, Iberdrola, agreeing to lift its long-term investment to £6.7bn last year, meaning the ‘new’ £7bn was already accounted for.