US companies announce £150bn investment drive in UK

US firms have pledged a record £150 billion investment in the United Kingdom, in what the government described as the largest commercial package of its kind. The commitments, unveiled during President Donald Trump’s state visit, are expected to generate more than 7,600 jobs nationwide.

The bulk of the funding will come from Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, which outlined plans to invest £90bn in the UK over the next decade. The move builds on its earlier pledge of £10bn for UK data centre development and follows a wider £370bn commitment to European projects announced in June.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hailed the agreements as proof of Britain’s economic strength, saying they signal the country’s readiness to lead in global growth. “Jobs, growth and opportunity is what I promised working people, and it’s exactly what this state visit is delivering,” he said.

Other major commitments include:

Microsoft: £22bn investment over four years.
Google: £5bn expansion of a data centre in Hertfordshire.
Prologis: £3.9bn for life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
Palantir: up to £1.5bn for defence innovation, with 350 new jobs.
Amentum: more than 3,000 jobs as it expands its UK workforce by over 50%.
Boeing: conversion of two 737 aircraft for the US Air Force in Birmingham — the first USAF aircraft to be built in the UK in over 50 years — creating 150 jobs.
STAX Engineering: £38m to expand UK operations.

The government said new roles will be spread across the country, including 1,000 in Belfast and thousands more across Glasgow, Warrington, the Midlands and the North East.

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said the commitments reflect “growing confidence in the UK’s industrial strategy” and will create apprenticeships in clean energy, biotech and AI.

The investment wave comes against a backdrop of declining pharmaceutical sector spending and follows recent job losses, with 160,000 payroll positions cut over the past year.

The announcements precede Thursday’s signing of a new Tech Prosperity Deal, aimed at accelerating nuclear power development in both the US and UK.