Raft of engineering jobs set to come to the UK after International Investment Summit

The UK plans to add almost 38,000 jobs, including those in engineering, and draw £63bn in investments after the International Investment Summit.

The event, which highlighted infrastructure, technology, and net-zero projects, has pulled in even higher numbers than last year’s Global Investment Summit, which reached around £29.5bn in investment.

The government said the boost was linked to changes in planning rules, progress in AI, more prominence given to data centres, and more money for clean energy. Blackstone, one of the world’s largest asset managers, said it would invest £10bn into a massive data centre in Blyth, Northumberland. The project should create 4,000 jobs.

Octopus Energy also pledged £2bn to build solar farms and a battery in Cheshire providing green power to 80,000 homes. Imperial College London unveiled a £150m investment for a new research campus in West London boosting its DeepTech scene.

Also, carbon capture projects headed by Eni BP, and Equinor got £8bn in private funding, which could support 50,000 jobs. Big tech firms such as CyrusOne, CloudHQ, and CoreWeave announced big investments in data centres, while SeAH Wind grew its operations in Teesside with a £225m wind manufacturing plant creating 750 jobs.

In the healthcare industry, Eli Lilly has teamed up with partners to tackle obesity investing £279m. They also plan to start an innovation hub for life sciences startups in Europe.

At the same time, US company Holtec intends to build a factory in South Yorkshire. This £325m project will create 1,200 engineering jobs over the next two decades. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Chancellor Rachel Reeves see these investments as good news and believe it shows growing trust in the UK economy that will help create jobs in different fields.