Investors pledge almost £10bn at UK Global Investment Summit

At least 30,000 new jobs will be created around the UK thanks to £9.7 billion of new foreign investment due to be announced by the Prime Minister at the Global Investment Summit today (Tuesday 19 October 2021).

The package of 18 deals will support growth in vital sectors such as wind and hydrogen energy, sustainable homes and carbon capture and storage, cementing the UK’s climate leadership for COP26 and beyond.

It comes as the Department for International Trade launches a new Investment Atlas, an online platform designed to help international investors identify and execute high priority investment opportunities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Atlas will highlight 53 strategic investment opportunities across the UK, each with a strong sustainability element aligned with the key themes set out in the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan. New projects being showcased include offshore wind substructures in Scotland and manufacturing ports in Teesside and Humber, sustainable food systems delivery in Telford and net zero transport in Coventry.

The Prime Minister will open the Summit today in London alongside International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan. He will also take part in a panel discussion with Bill Gates on the global energy transition and role of the private sector in tackling climate change.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

The world’s top investors have seen the massive potential in the UK for growth and innovation in the industries of the future. The fantastic £9.7 billion of new investment we have secured today will power our economic recovery, creating thousands of jobs and helping to level up across the country.

This is just the start. We will see new partnerships for green growth forged at today’s Global Investment Summit, as we look ahead to COP26 and beyond.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

The UK is the best investment destination in the world and our Investment Atlas will help to drive more investment into green industries across the UK, and make it easier for businesses to make decisions on where and what to invest in.

These investment deals announced today will create jobs, boost the economy, spread prosperity and level up the country as we build back better and greener.

As part of the new investment committed today, electric utility company Iberdrola have confirmed their intent to invest £6 billion in the East Anglia Hub through Scottish Power, subject to securing planning consent and a Contract for Difference. This will be Iberdrola’s biggest offshore wind development anywhere in the world and would supply enough green energy to power 2.7 million British homes, while creating 7,000 jobs.

Iberdrola’s Chairman, Ignacio Galán said:

We share the ambition of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan and, following the stable and predictable UK framework, we are committed to playing our part. Our £6bn investment in the East Anglia Hub would be a significant step to achieving enough offshore wind to power every UK home by 2030.

Global logistics firm Prologis intends to invest £1.5bn over the next three years to develop net zero carbon warehouses across London, the South-East and Midlands, supporting around 14,000 new jobs.

Hamid Moghadam, CEO of Prologis Inc, said:

We believe private sector innovation has, and will continue to play, a major role in overcoming the environmental challenges the world faces today. Prologis is proud to contribute to the UK’s economic growth by continuing to invest in environmentally responsible logistics parks that help strengthen local economies and support sustainable, local employment.

The £9.7bn announced today comes on top of the £5.8bn already committed for sustainable projects since the PM launched his Ten Point Plan in November 2020.

The Summit comes two weeks ahead of COP26 and will bring together global business leaders to look at the role of the private sector in reaching global net zero and achieving green growth, as well as highlighting the significant inward investment opportunities in the UK in the sustainable industries of the future.

The Government will also launch the Net Zero strategy this week, setting out how the UK will deliver on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. It will include measures to create a secure, home-grown clean UK energy sector, supporting businesses and consumers to transition to clean power, create thousands of well-paid jobs and unlock investment.

The full list of new investments announced today is:

• Iberdrola intend to invest through ScottishPower £6bn in the East Anglia Hub offshore windfarms, creating 7,000 jobs.
• Prologis intends to invest £1.5bn in the UK over the next three years, developing net zero carbon warehouses which will support around 14,000 new jobs across London, the South-East and Midlands.
• Viridor, owned by US firm KKR, plans to invest up to £1 billion into cutting-edge decarbonisation technology across five of their UK sites, creating 1,180 jobs. Viridor aims to become the first net zero waste company by 2030, and this new investment will also reduce fossil emissions at their UK sites by up to 90%.
• Eren Paper, owned by Turkish conglomerate Eren Holding, is investing £500m to acquire a mill in Shotton, North Wales, and convert it to produce cardboard manufactured from paper waste. The mill will be powered by biomass fuel and the investment is expected to create around 300 new jobs.
• Peer-to-peer lending firm Zopa have raised £220m, led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, to grow their responsible and sustainable banking and lending services in the UK.
• Budweiser Brewing Group, the UK arm of global brewer AB InBev, and Protium, the leading UK-based green hydrogen energy services company, have teamed up to deploy zero emission green hydrogen at the Magor brewery in South Wales, one of the largest breweries in the UK. They will invest more than £100m for a hydrogen generation system that will fuel the brewery’s production and also its key logistics assets, including heavy goods vehicles and forklift trucks.
• Getir plan to invest £100m to rapidly expand its sustainable and superfast grocery delivery service across the UK, creating 7,000 permanent jobs in 2022. The business utilises a 100% electric fleet of delivery vehicles. Malaysian conglomerate Petra Group will invest £30m in establishing the Petra Modular business in the UK for the production of sustainable modular homes, creating 225 jobs. They will also invest £30m in establishing Petra Group’s ‘Green Rubber’ business in the UK, which will see the development of a production facility creating 110 jobs.
• HiPoint AG will invest £50m to create five new facilities for the recovery and processing of horse stall waste into reusable bedding, fertilizer & bio-fuels, creating 90 jobs across the UK.
• Ultimate Battery Company will invest £28m setting up a UK production plant for lightweight, eco-friendly batteries, creating 300 jobs.
• Global Marine will invest £10m in building hybrid engine crew transfer vessels and surface effect ships to service offshore wind infrastructure, creating 10 jobs in the East of England.
• HyPoint will invest £6.6m establishing a HQ in the South East for the development of their next generation hydrogen fuel cell system, creating 10 jobs.
• Crowdz will invest £5m to develop and launch an environmental, social and governance platform based on blockchain technology, creating 7 jobs in London.
• Treedom will establish a UK office in London for their online platform for planting trees, creating 10 jobs.
• Tes Amm is creating 15 new jobs in Scotland, doubling its electronic waste recycling solutions for lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, consumer electronics and IT & mobile technologies.
• Jacobs will create over 150 jobs as they grow their high-tech Birchwood laboratory in Warrington, where they carry out research and development, testing and cyber security operations that support critical UK national infrastructure.
• Huaneng will invest in the 50MW Battery Storage project in StoneHill. This greenfield project is a major new milestone for energy storage in the UK and will employ local partners in construction and operations.
• Sumitomo Corporation are launching Presidio Ventures Europe, a venture arm of Sumitomo, focused on energy and mobility.