PM tells US investors

A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York today.  

The deal with US investment company Blackstone, facilitated by the Office for Investment, will create the biggest AI data centre in Europe, boosting the UK’s world leading capabilities in the AI sector and driving growth in the local community. 

Over 4,000 jobs will be created as a result, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site in Blyth, Northumberland. Construction on the site is expected to begin next year, with the data centres set to store the vast amount of data needed to power AI, and to store the information generated by AI systems.  

The Prime Minister’s number one mission for government is economic growth, and foreign investment will be a key part of driving it – by creating jobs which will put money into the pockets of hard-working British people.  

The local community in Blyth – which suffered as a result of the failure of BritishVolt – will also directly benefit from the investment, with Blackstone confirming it will invest £110 million into a fund – supporting further skills training and transport infrastructure in the area.  

The UK is already home to the highest number of data centres in Western Europe and just last month, the government classed data centres as ‘Critical National Infrastructure’ in the first designation in almost a decade to provide greater reassurance to businesses that the UK is a secure place to invest in and develop data centres.   

Prime Minister Keir Starmer 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.

Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, 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.

The Prime Minister will meet Blackstone President Jon Gray in New York this morning, as he seeks to rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination in order to drive growth and create opportunities for British people.  

This comes ahead of the UK’s International Investment Summit in October, which is set to bring together hundreds of leading CEOs and investors set to attend representing the best of business across the globe, with an ambitious programme to showcase the UK’s economic strengths. 

The summit will rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination to drive growth and create opportunities for British people and cement the government’s enduring partnership with businesses to give them the certainty they need to invest and grow in the UK.

Today’s investment also bolsters the UK’s bilateral trading relationship with the US which is already worth over £340 billion – making the US our largest single trading partner.  

Every day, 1.2 million Americans go to work for UK-owned businesses and 1.3 million Brits work for US owned companies. Just last year the UK and US together invested over $1.2 trillion in each other’s economies, across key sectors like financial services, green infrastructure, real estate and technology.