£10bn data centre investment shows UK ‘open for business’, says Starmer

A £10 billion US investment in a new artificial intelligence data centre will create 4,000 jobs in the UK, the Government has announced.

The deal with private equity giant Blackstone will create Europe’s biggest AI data centre in Blyth, Northumberland.

Sir Keir Starmer, who is in New York attempting to woo US bosses, said the investment showed the UK is “open for business”.

As a result of the deal, facilitated by the Government’s Office for Investment, around 1,200 jobs will be dedicated to the construction of the Blyth site.

Blackstone will also put £110 million into a fund for skills training and transport infrastructure in the area.

The site was bought by Blackstone after the collapse of Britishvolt which had planned to build electric car batteries.

The plan for Blackstone to develop the site was first revealed in April, before Sir Keir’s election win.

Sir Keir said: “The number one mission of my government is to grow our economy, so that hard-working British people reap the benefits – and more foreign investment is a crucial part of that plan.

“New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage and we’re open for business.”

Blackstone’s president Jon Gray said: “The UK is a top investment market for Blackstone because of its powerful combination of talent and innovation along with a highly transparent legal system.

“We are making significant commitments to building social housing, facilitating the energy transition, growing life sciences companies and developing critical infrastructure needed to fuel the digital economy.

“This includes a projected £10 billion investment to build one of Europe’s largest hyperscale data centres supporting 4,000 jobs. Blackstone is committed to Britain.”

Sir Keir is meeting a series of US business chiefs including Mr Gray while in New York for the UN General Assembly.

Other executives at a roundtable hosted by the Prime Minister on Thursday in New York include: Adebayo Ogunlesi of Global Infrastructure Partners, Shemara Wikramanayake of Macquarie Group, Robin Vince of BNY, William Huffman of Nuveen, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Carlyle Group’s Harvey Schwartz, JPMorgan’s Mary Callahan Erdoes, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser and Brookfield Asset Management’s Hadley Peer Marshall,

This comes ahead of the UK’s international investment summit in October, which the Government hopes will attract hundreds of leading chief executives and financiers.