US firms pledge £150bn investment in UK, as Starmer hosts Trump

The UK government says it has secured £150bn worth of US investment in Britain, coinciding with President Trump’s state visit.

Tech giants Microsoft and Google as well as private equity firm Blackstone have pledged to spend billions of pounds in the UK, which the the government hopes will create 7,600 jobs.

It follows a difficult few days for the government after major pharmaceutical companies said they would scrap investment in the UK and redirect spending to the US.

On Thursday, UK and US investors will meet Sir Keir Starmer and Trump at the prime minister’s country house Chequers to discuss economic ties and future collaborations.

Starmer said the investments were “a testament to Britain’s economic strength and a bold signal that our country is open, ambitious, and ready to lead”.

The vast majority of the £150bn investment – £90bn – will come from Blackstone over the next decade. The private equity firm announced in June it would spend £370bn across Europe over 10 years.

Microsoft pledged to spend £22bn in the UK over the next four years, while Google will invest £5bn over the next two years to expand an existing data centre in Hertfordshire.

While it is thought the investments will generate thousands of jobs in the years ahead, the number of people on UK payrolls has fallen by an estimated 127,000 employees in the year to August, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile, Britain’s life sciences sector has sustained a number of blows in recent days.

US giant Merck rowed back on a plan to invest £1bn in the UK after blaming successive governments for undervaluing innovative medicines. Instead, it will move research to the US.

AstraZeneca then paused plans to invest £200m at a Cambridge research site, a project expected to create 1,000 jobs. It has also switched investment to the US.

Blackstone’s large investment is in addition to the £10bn it previously announced for data centre development in the UK.

Real estate investment trust Prologis is also set to invest £3.9bn into the UK’s life sciences and advanced manufacturing.

Palantir will invest up to £1.5bn in UK defence innovation and plans to create up to 350 new jobs.

American tech company Amentum plans to create more than 3,000 jobs and expand its UK workforce by more than 50%.

Boeing has said it will convert two 737 aircraft in Birmingham for the US Air Force, which would be the first USAF aircraft built in the UK for more than 50 years, and could create 150 high-skilled jobs.

US Engineering firm STAX has also committed up to £38m to expand its UK operations.

The 7,600 total jobs promised are intended to be in all 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 north-east of England.

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said the deal reflects growing confidence in the UK’s industrial strategy.

“These record-breaking investments will create thousands of high-quality jobs across the UK,” he said.

The government said it wants to give “real opportunities for working people”, including apprenticeships in clean energy and careers in biotech and AI.

This comes ahead of the signing of the Tech Prosperity Deal on Thursday, which is an agreement to accelerate the building of new nuclear power in both the US and the UK.