US private equity giant Blackstone said it planned to invest £90 billion (€103.7 billion) in UK projects over the next decade.
The deal was unveiled during US President Donald Trump’s second State visit to Britain – a first for any US president – and came as part of a record-breaking £150 billion (€172.8 billion) package of US investment into the UK announced yesterday, AFP reported.
Of his visit, Trump said: “This is truly one of the highest honours of my life, such respect for you and such respect for your country,” according to Sky News.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the investments “are a testament to Britain’s economic strength and a bold signal that our country is open, ambitious and ready to lead”, according to the BBC.
“Jobs, growth and opportunity is what I promised for working people, and it’s exactly what this State Visit is delivering,” he added.
Some 7,600 total jobs have been promised and are intended to be created in several areas of the UK.
This is set to include 1,000 new jobs in Belfast and 6,000 more roles from Glasgow to Warrington, the Midlands and the Northeast.
Business and trade secretary Peter Kyle said the deal reflected growing confidence in the UK’s industrial strategy.
“These record-breaking investments will create thousands of high-quality jobs across the UK,” he said.
“It’s a clear sign that our Plan for Growth is delivering for working people.”
The government said it wanted to give “real opportunities for working people”, including apprenticeships in clean energy and careers in biotech and AI.
Blackstone previously announced in June that it would invest £370 billion (€426.5 billion) in Europe over the next decade, AFP reported.
On September 15, Microsoft pledged to spend £22 billion (€25.3 billion) in the UK over the next four years and Google pledged £5 billion (€5.7 billion) over the next two years to expand an existing data centre in Hertfordshire.
The latest investment announcement came as thousands of protesters voiced their anger in London at a Stop Trump Coalition protest, the US President was escorted by the King and Queen through a first day that ended in a state banquet but kept him out of reach of his critics, The Guardian reported.
The recent sacking of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador in Washington over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein looms large over the historic two-day visit, with Trump himself facing questions over his dealings with the disgraced financier who killed himself in prison in 2019.
The new US-UK deals follow planned multi-billion-dollar investments in British artificial intelligence projects by US technology giants and a decision by British pharmaceutical group GSK to invest $30 billion (€25.3 billion) in the US over the next five years, in announcements coinciding with Trump’s trip.
“When we back British brilliance, champion our world-class industries, and forge deeper global alliances — especially with friends like the US — we help shape the future for generations to come and make people across the country better off,” Starmer said yesterday, according to the BBC.
“These investments are a testament to Britain’s economic strength and a bold signal that our country is open, ambitious, and ready to lead.
“Jobs, growth and opportunity is what I promised for working people, and it’s exactly what this State visit is delivering,” the PM added.
Despite his evident delight at the outcome of Trump’s visit, the careful choreography was dealt a blow yesterday when Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister who held one of the most senior roles at Facebook owner Meta until earlier this year, described the US-UK tech deal as “sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley”, The Guardian reported.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, Clegg said of the US tech companies: “These companies need those infrastructure resources anyway. They’re building data-centres all over the world.
“Maybe they were pushed a bit forward just to meet the timetable with this week’s state visit. But … it’s all one-way traffic.
“We just have to be a little bit more realistic about our predicament and a little bit firmer about what we can do ourselves, rather than what I think we’re seeing with this US-UK tech deal, which is basically just sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley.”
On the relationship between the UK and US, an obviously gleeful Trump said at the State banquet with King Charles in Windsor Castle last night: “Seen from American eyes, the word ‘special’ does not begin to do it justice,” before adding: “We’re like two notes in one chord or two verses of the same prose.
“Each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together. The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal.
“It’s irreplaceable and unbreakable.”
He then made a reference to former US president Joe Biden, saying: “We had a very sick country one year ago, and today I believe we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
Critics have argued that the new tech deal, due to be finalised at the Prime Minister’s Chequers retreat with Trump today, does little to support the UK’s homegrown tech industry and have questioned what concessions the government might give US tech companies on regulation and tax.
