Rishi Sunak is set to welcome hundreds of business figures to a summit at Hampton Court Palace, as he hailed efforts to attract global investment to Britain as being at the “heart” of his growth plan.
The Prime Minister will mingle with top chief executives and investors at the Global Investment Summit in the venue’s grand surroundings.
It comes days after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used the autumn statement to cut taxes for businesses and unveiled a multibillion-pound funding package for car makers, aerospace companies, clean energy firms and other “strategic” sectors.
Mr Sunak hailed a total of £29.5 billion committed by investors in the UK, triple the sum raised at the last global investment gathering in 2021.
The Prime Minister will join Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch later to open the summit, which is being attended by bosses from Blackstone, Aviva, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase amongst others.
“Today’s investments, worth more than £29 billion, will create thousands of new jobs and are a huge vote of confidence in the future of the UK economy. Global CEOs are right to back Britain – we are making this the best place in the world to invest and do business,” Mr Sunak said.
“From giving businesses the biggest tax cut in recent history last week, to our culture of innovation and thriving universities producing some of the finest minds in the world, ours is truly a nation of opportunity.”
He added: “Attracting global investment is at the heart of my plan for growing the economy. With new funding pouring into key industries like clean energy, life sciences and advanced technology, inward investment is creating high-quality new jobs and driving growth right across the country.”
Ms Badenoch said the investment was a “huge vote of confidence” in the UK economy, as the Department for Business and Trade pointed to a range of investments in renewable energy projects.
Among those was Australia’s IFM Investors, which will sign a memorandum of understanding with the department with the intention to invest £10 billion over the next four years for large-scale infrastructure and energy projects.
BioNTech, which developed the mRNA-based Covid vaccine with Pfizer, has committed to a new lab in Cambridge, as well as a centre of expertise for artificial intelligence in London.
Ministers also announced plans for a new expert panel to look into how to best create a UK corporate re-domiciliation regime, to make it easier for foreign firms to relocate here.
The Government has hailed the opportunities for thousands of jobs to be created as a result of the new investments.
A reception is also scheduled to take place later at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the King.
Labour said that the last 13 years have been a “total failure on growth and business investment”.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “The past 13 years of Conservative government have been marked by a complete lack of stability, consistency and ambition which has turned potential investors away from Britain.
“Only Labour has the plans to create the step change needed, working in partnership with business and investors, through our Industrial Strategy, Green Prosperity Plan and commitment to get Britain building again.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here