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 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.
