The government has revealed billions of pounds of infrastructure investment and announced a fresh pledge to speed up planning for major projects.
Ahead of a summit on Monday (14 October) in London for global investors, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer revealed deals for projects across the UK.
He also renewed the government’s pledge to reform planning processes to quicken delivery.
Starmer said more than £24bn of private investment for “pioneering energy projects” had been secured.
This would create “thousands of jobs in green industries” across the country, “from Yorkshire to Suffolk”.
“We are creating the conditions for businesses to thrive, and our International Investment Summit will be a springboard for every part of the UK to be an engine of innovation and investment,” Starmer said.
The energy announcements include a commitment by Holtec to build a £325m factory in South Yorkshire for nuclear components; BW Group pledging to go ahead with a £300m battery storage project in Birmingham; and SeAH pouring an extra £225m into wind-tech manufacturing facilities in Teesside.
The investments also include Iberdrola doubling its £12bn stake over the next four years through Scottish Power, with a commitment to build an offshore wind farm in East Anglia; and Orsted and Greenvolt confirming offshore wind work worth £8bn and £2.5bn respectively.
These announcements were followed by confirmation that logistics giant DP World would go ahead with its London Gateway development in Thurrock, Essex, at which there will be two new shipping berths, taking the total to six. The site will also be given extra warehousing capacity plus a second rail terminal to handle the expected increase in containerised trade.
DP World valued the work at £1bn. The expansion will create a further 400 permanent jobs, in addition to the 1,200 currently employed at the site, which was formerly home to an oil refinery.
Speakers at the investment summit are set to include Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, as well as Bruce Flatt, chief executive of Multiplex owner Brookfield Asset Management.
On Thursday (10 October), the government also appointed a minister for investment, Poppy Gustafsson, to lead the Office for Investment, part of the Department for Business and Trade. Gustafsson, who founded cybersecurity firm Darktrace, will be given a peerage to sit in the House of Lords.
Starmer also renewed his government’s pledge to speed up the planning system for major projects.
He said: “We’ve got to look at regulation where it is needlessly holding back the investment to take our country forward. Where it is stopping us building the homes, the data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, trainlines, you name it, then mark my words: we will get rid of it.”
But fresh concerns have been raised over whether the construction industry has enough skilled people to deliver both infrastructure and new homes.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “Labour’s plans to drive economic growth are all dependent on having a growing workforce. The construction sector needs an additional 250,000 new people just to keep the lights on.”
