Tag: Downing Street

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 5 December 2023.

The Prime Minister spoke to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon. He expressed disappointment about the breakdown of the pause in fighting in Gaza, which had allowed hostages to be released. The leaders discussed urgent efforts to ensure all remaining hostages are safely freed and to allow any remaining British nationals in Gaza to leave.

The Prime Minister offered an update on his engagement with leaders in the Middle East and reiterated his public remarks in the region last week, stressing the need for Israel to take greater care to protect civilians in Gaza and focus narrowly on military targets.

The Prime Minister said more humanitarian aid had to be allowed to enter Gaza, where civilians were in desperate need. He reiterated offers of practical UK support to facilitate deliveries of life-saving aid. He noted the pressure on the Rafah crossing point and pressed the need to explore other routes into Gaza, including via Kerem Shalom.

The leaders shared their concerns about increasing attacks by Houthi militants, supported by Iran, against commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea. The Prime Minister stressed the UK’s commitment to freedom of navigation and highlighted the deployment this week of HMS Diamond, a Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyer, to bolster deterrence in the region and keep trade routes flowing. He also said the UK would continue to support efforts to de-escalate tensions and address the threat on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Finally, the Prime Minister welcomed commitments to address extremist settler violence and intimidation, which was destabilising the situation in the West Bank.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 1 December 2023.

The Prime Minister met with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan at the COP28 summit in Dubai.

The Prime Minister recognised the vital role Jordan has played addressing the crisis in Gaza and the generosity they have shown in providing significant humanitarian support to Palestinian civilians, including the provision of military field hospitals.

He reassured King Abdullah that the UK continues to press Israel on the need to adhere to International Humanitarian Law and contain settler violence in the West Bank.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to working towards a lasting resolution to the conflict which delivers dignity, peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The leaders also confirmed the continued importance of close UK-Jordan cooperation, including on trade, defence and clean technology.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 1 December 2023.

The Prime Minister met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the COP28 Summit in the UAE today.

He thanked President Sisi for Egypt’s continued efforts to get much-needed aid into Gaza and secure the release of hostages, as well as their support for the evacuation of British nationals from Gaza.

The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s support for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with planeloads of UK aid, including warehouse facilities and forklift trucks, sent to Egypt to preposition on the border with Gaza.

He said the UK stands ready to provide further support, recognising that there must be no forcible displacement from Gaza and that aid must be able to reach people across the Gaza Strip.

The Prime Minister enquired about progress in the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and reiterated the UK’s call for his release.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 1 December 2023.

The Prime Minister will stress the need for ambitious, innovative and pragmatic climate action to meet the challenge of rising global temperatures at the COP28 Summit in the United Arab Emirates today.

• Prime Minister will announce £1.6 billion in UK funding for climate projects as he arrives for the first day of COP28
• UK will back efforts to end deforestation and speed up the transition to renewable energy as part of a solutions-focused approach to tackling climate change
• Rishi Sunak will also use his visit for high level talks on the crisis in Gaza and de-escalation in the wider Middle East

The Prime Minister will stress the need for ambitious, innovative and pragmatic climate action to meet the challenge of rising global temperatures at the COP28 Summit in the United Arab Emirates today [Friday 1st Dec].

Attending the first day of the World Leaders Summit at COP, the Prime Minister will announce major funding for effective projects aimed at stopping and reversing deforestation, protecting the natural environment, and accelerating the global transition to clean and renewable energy. The projects will support urgent efforts to get the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees on track.

He will also set out his ambition to turbocharge the role of the private sector, given the UK’s role as the pre-eminent global centre for green finance. Overall, the UK Government will commit £1.6 billion for international climate finance (ICF) projects over the course of COP28 – delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6 billion of ICF over five years and taking it further with new funding.

Today’s announcements build on the UK’s leading record at home, with the fastest decarbonisation in the G7 and record investment in renewables, and help to deliver on the legacy of the successful COP26 Summit in Glasgow.

The Prime Minister will also use his travel to the Middle East to push for progress on alleviating the humanitarian crisis on Gaza and finding a long-term solution to the crisis. In talks with key regional and international leaders, he will discuss efforts to free remaining hostages and ensure Hamas can never again launch terror attacks from Gaza, as well as concrete proposals to step up the delivery of aid and secure a lasting peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Ahead of COP28, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

“The world made ambitious pledges at previous COP summits to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. But the time for pledges is now over – this is the era for action.

“We know that the technologies and innovations we need to protect the planet are at our fingertips, from the mighty offshore wind farms powering the UK to the solar energy transforming electricity in Africa.

“The transition to net zero should make us all safer and better off. It must benefit, not burden ordinary families. The UK has led the way in taking pragmatic, long-term decisions at home – and at COP28 we will lead international efforts to protect the world’s forests, turbocharge renewable energy and leverage the full weight of private finance.”

The UK put nature at the heart of climate summits for the first time at COP26, securing the agreement of the landmark ‘Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use’ which saw more than 140 countries commit to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. And this week, we took further action at home to protect the UK’s rich natural heritage, announcing 34 new landscape recovery projects, new community forests and funding to help more children get outdoors and into the great British countryside.

New funding announced by the Prime Minister today builds on that record, providing up to £500 million for the ‘Investment in Forests and Sustainable Land Use’ programme which works with the private sector to tackle the causes of deforestation and increase investment in sustainable forest and land management. We expect the programme to mobilise £2 billion in private investment, directly benefit small farmers and poor rural communities, and restore vital forests across 10m hectares. A further £30 million will also be provided to the REDD Early Movers programme, which provides results-based payments to key forest countries to reduce deforestation and reinvest the money into indigenous and local communities.

The UK will also commit £316 million for exciting energy innovation projects around the world, to help speed up the global transition to renewables. The funding includes up to £185 million from the Ayrton Fund for a planned UK-led Climate Innovation Pull Facility, which will use market incentives to signal demand for a particular innovation in developing countries and rapidly advance new green technology. There will also be £40 million from the Ayrton Fund via the Energy Catalyst for 64 clean energy projects across Africa, South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, investing in partnerships which are developing critical technologies like energy storage, smart grids and next-generation solar.

British International Investment – the UK’s development finance institution – will invest £44 million in climate projects in Africa and Asia. The funding includes an £8 million investment into Planet Solar in Sierra Leone and £1.7 million for SunCulture in Kenya, respectively using solar power to increase Sierra Leone’s power supply by 30% and supporting thousands of smallholder farms in Kenya with irrigation. £4.1 million will go towards the delivery of 100 electric buses in Kenya and £5.7 million will be invested into the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund, which aims to prevent 5 million tonnes of plastic pollution from entering the environment.

The UK will also contribute up to £60 million of funding for loss and damage, including up to £40 million for a new fund announced by the COP Presidency yesterday [Thursday] and a further £20 million for funding arrangements, including for early warning systems and disaster risk finance.  The funding will help address the real and growing impact of climate change on countries, including many developing and small island states – from rising seas to flooding and desertification. It is intended to kickstart efforts to leverage broader sources of finance to enable the fund to scale.

Further announcements will be made by UK ministers throughout COP28, bringing the total UK ICF commitment for the Summit to more than £1.6 billion. Of that, £887.8 million – including £465 million for forests – is new funding, outside of the £11.6 billion ICF spending target agreed for 2021/22 – 2025/26.

The Prime Minister is expected to attend the Opening Ceremony at COP28, which will be addressed by His Majesty The King, as well as events on climate finance, climate adaptation and a new Just Energy TransitionPartnership with Vietnam. He will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders.

Further information:

• Up to £185m Climate Innovation Pull Facility (CIPF), first-of-a-kind UK-led ICF facility that will pioneer the use of pull incentives for climate mitigation solutions in developing countries.
• £40m worth of Ayrton Fund support to 64 clean energy innovation projects across Africa, South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, in critical technology areas such as energy storage, smart green grids, next generation solar and more.
• A £40m extension to the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform, funding R&D on energy access in low income countries.
• A £36m increase for the Market Accelerator for Green Construction, driving uptake of green construction practices and accelerating investments in energy efficient buildings in over 20 emerging and developing economies.
• A £15m extension to the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, enabling demonstrators of e-Cooking innovations in countries currently relying on firewood and charcoal.

Full list of BII investments [in USD]:

• A $9.8m investment into Planet Solar, Sierra Leone’s first large-scale independent solar power producer.   The project will increase the country’s power supply by approximately 30%. Currently only 23% of the population in Sierra Leone have access to electricity.
• $25m commitment to GEF South Asia Growth Fund III, investing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation as well as boost water use-efficiency and sustainable food production. Following BII’s investment, the fund is aiming to raise $400m to support climate goals across the region.
• A $2.1m investment into SunCulture in Kenya to provide 9,000 more smallholder farmers with solar-powered irrigation systems to improve their climate resilience and incomes.
• A $6m investment into Wavemaker Impact (WMI) a Fund investing in high-impact food and agriculture start-ups that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in South East Asia.
• A $5m investment into BasiGo for delivery of 100 Electric Buses in Kenya. Funding will be used to scale local assembly of electric buses in Kenya, establishing a new electric vehicle manufacturing sector.
• A $7m investment into Circulate Capital Disrupt Fund, investing in circular economy with a focus on plastic waste recycling in South and South East Asia, with the aim of preventing 5 million tonnes of plastic pollution from entering the environment.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 30 November 2023.

The Prime Minister has been joined by businesses, charities and community groups in a festive celebration at Downing Street, where he also switched on the Christmas lights outside Number 10.

He was joined by military families, Points of Light award winners who have been commended for their charitable work, business students, and the owners of Dartmoor Christmas Tree Farm who provided Downing Street’s Christmas Tree.

During the event, Downing Street was transformed into a Christmas market with stalls from a wide range of British businesses showcasing their products, including Mixpixie, Joy by Corrine Smith and Create Gift Love from online retailer Not on The High Street.

Guests also enjoyed food and drink from businesses across the UK including Forest Feast from Northern Ireland, Slainte Sauce from Scotland, Mijmoj from Wales and Mocha Chocolate from Yorkshire, while listening to festive musicfrom the London Community Gospel Choir and a military band.

The Prime Minister and Ms Murty visited the market stalls and spoke to guests after leading a countdown to turn on the festive lights.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Christmas is a very special time of the year where family and friends near and far come together to make new memories, share good food and give thanks.

I am delighted to welcome some fantastic small businesses, charities and local communities to Downing Street today to mark this special occasion and celebrate the joy of Christmas. This event is also especially important as we look ahead to Small Business Saturday, which is a great opportunity to showcase the huge impact independent businesses have in driving growth and opportunity in our communities.

From my family to yours, I wish you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous year ahead.

This year’s Christmas tree was provided by Dartmoor Christmas Tree Farm, after they were crowned Champion Christmas Tree Grower of the Year 2023. For over 20 years, BCTGA has provided the tree to stand outside Downing Street.

Friezeland Christmas Tree Farm, in Warwickshire, provided the wreath for the Number 10 front door after winning the Champion Festive Wreath of the Year 2023.

Ministers from across Government attended and spoke to businesses showcased at the festive event, who were also invited to a meeting with the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, Kevin Hollinrake, to discuss how the Government can continue to support small businesses.

Elizabeth Graves, Owner of Mocha Chocolate said:

I’m really excited to be part of the Christmas Showcase event in Downing Street today. My chocolate making business and cafes are located in the market town of Richmond in the Prime Minister’s constituency in North Yorkshire, and we have been fortunate to meet with him on several occasions including the time he visited our new premises and made chocolate bars with us.

Today is also a fantastic opportunity to meet with the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business to discuss the ongoing challenges for small businesses and how the Government can assist in helping us to expand and thrive.

This event comes ahead of Small Business Saturday, which is an annual grassroots campaign that encourages people to support small businesses in their communities. To mark the day, ministers will visit independent businesses from across the UK to recognise the value they bring to our daily lives.

It follows a significant package of support for small businesses in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, which included £4.3 billion over the next 5 years to help our high streets and protect small businesses, building a stronger and more resilient economy.

Michelle Ovens CBE, Director of Small Business Saturday UK said:

Like the wonderful Christmas lights that were switched on at Downing Street, the nation’s 5.5 million small businesses sparkle and shine across the UK. It was fantastic to see the contribution that these businesses make to our local communities and the wider economy highlighted by the Prime Minister at this Christmas showcase.

This Small Business Saturday we all need to throw our support behind our favourite small businesses and celebrate all the special things they bring to our lives.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 27 November 2023.

Thousands of jobs will be created across the UK in our most innovative sectors, including tech, life sciences, renewables, housing and infrastructure.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has today (Monday 27 November) unveiled £29.5 billion of new investment for thriving UK sectors, as the world’s A-list CEOs and investors arrive at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace.

Backing some of the fastest growing and most innovative sectors in the UK, the transformative investments have been secured for projects in tech, life sciences, infrastructure, housing and renewable energy – creating thousands of new jobs and driving growth across the country.

The summit marks a huge step forward for levelling up, with more than 12,000 jobs being created from just some of today’s investments. This follows the government’s new £4.5 billion Advanced Manufacturing Plan, a £2 billion investment from Nissan which will secure thousands of jobs in Sunderland, and a new Investment Zone in the North East which will create 4,000 jobs.

Nearly 9,000 jobs were created last year alone in the North West and North East from inward investment projects, with over 7,000 in Yorkshire and The Humber and 11,000 in the Midlands.

The summit will be opened by the Prime Minister and Business & Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, with notable CEOs in attendance including Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, David Soloman from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase.

Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Bank will also attend as Principal Partners of the Summit, which will celebrate “British Ideas – Past, Present and Future”, from the steam train to quantum computing. It will be followed by a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by His Majesty the King.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

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.

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.

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.

The new wave of investments come after the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the biggest business tax cut in modern history at last week’s Autumn Statement with a permanent extension of capital allowances, £4.3 billion of business rates support and a £7 billion Growth Fund.

It was also confirmed that Freeport tax reliefs would be extended from five to 10 years, with new government data confirming that UK freeports have attracted nearly £2.9 billion of investment in just two years, creating 6,000 jobs.

In a huge boost for Net Zero and the UK’s world-leading renewables sector, Iberdrola have confirmed £7 billion of investment as part of a total £12 billion programme for 2024-28, with North Star, owned by Partners Group in Switzerland, also committing £500 million and 400 new jobs to offshore wind infrastructure.

Fellow portfolio company Gren has also recently acquired a network of waste and biomass assets, which play a key role in baseload energy production and reducing waste to landfill. The company plans to invest up to £1 billion in district heating and local energy systems that will deliver affordable green energy to over 200,000 homes and thousands of businesses in the UK, with sites among others in Wick, Sheffield and Nottingham.

The lucrative projects come on the back of a huge spike in inward investment for renewables in the UK, rising from £19 billion in 2021 to £55 billion in 2022, with 11,500 jobs being created in the industry last year alone.

Business & Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

The £29.5 billion pledged today is yet another huge vote of confidence in our dynamic, pro-business and highly innovative economy and proves that our plan for growth is working.

The numbers speak for themselves: we have the third highest levels of inward investment in the world at $2.7 trillion, we’re number one in Europe for new investment projects, and last year alone we created 107,000 jobs through inward investment.

People want to invest in a country with vision, ideas and growth, and our Summit showcases all these qualities and proves why the UK is the most exciting and innovative place in the world to invest.

Australia’s IFM Investors also intend to invest £10 billion over the next four years for large-scale infrastructure and energy transition projects.

IFM will sign an MoU with the Department for Business & Trade at the summit to identify commercially viable opportunities, with potential projects including Nala Renewables, a UK-based portfolio company within IFM, which is actively seeking investment opportunities in the UK as it looks to achieve a renewable capacity target of 4GW by 2025.

David Neal, CEO of IFM Investors said:

Australia’s ‘super funds’ system can be a trusted long-term partner with the United Kingdom. We’re proud to sign this Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government, which is a signal of the confidence IFM and Australian super funds have in the UK as a place to invest.

Our presence in the UK continues to grow and we look forward to working closely with the Government to drive investment into large-scale infrastructure and energy transition projects across equity and debt funding.

Partnerships between governments and long-term investors are necessary to unlock the potential of pension funds to invest in system-level risks such as climate change.

And in a further boost from Australia, Aware Super have committed more than £5 billion for projects in energy transition, affordable housing, life sciences, innovation, technology and digital infrastructure, just days after opening their new UK office.

Aware Super Chief Executive Officer Deanne Stewart said:

We are thrilled to announce our commitment to the UK, one of the world’s most important and vibrant capital markets, with the opening of our first international office.

The benefits arising from the Australia – UK Free Trade Agreement, the ease of doing business in the UK, closely aligned culture, proximity to Europe and Northern America, and warm support from both the Department for Business & Trade and the City of London were also compelling factors in our decision to invest here.

The summit will also see billions for the UK’s burgeoning tech sector, which already attracts the highest levels of investment in Europe and last year became the third in the world to be worth $1 trillion.

Following the success of the UK Government’s first-ever AI safety summit, Microsoft has pledged £2.5 billion to build critical AI infrastructure, bringing more next-generation AI datacentres and thousands of graphic processing units to the UK. This will boost the UK’s AI Superpower status, which generated over £10 billion of revenue from AI companies last year.

The UK’s R&D scene will also see a £1 billion investment from the Ellison Institute of Technology into their recently announced Oxford Campus, bringing together global innovative thinkers through a new interdisciplinary research and development facility to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), which is showcasing at the GIS, has also announced it is raising $106 million (£85 million) for R&D projects. Quantum computing is a rapidly growing sector that has the most start-ups in Europe, and is destined for £2.5 billion of public and private investment under the Government’s National Quantum Strategy.

Ilana Wisby, CEO of Oxford Quantum Circuits, said:

To solve the world’s most pressing challenges – from climate change to accelerated drug discovery – we need to put quantum computers in the hands of humanity and at the fingertips of our most brilliant minds.

We’re proud to be pioneering enterprise ready quantum with our customers, partners and investors.

And BioNTech, an international leader in the biotechnology industry and developer of the first mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, has announced it intends to expand its global R&D activities with a new laboratory in Cambridge as well as a centre of expertise for Artificial Intelligence in London.

This will be implemented through a rolling 10-year investment of approximately £1 billion, creating an additional 400 highly skilled jobs. It follows a major agreement between the Government and BioNTech SE this summer to provide up to 10,000 patients with precision cancer immunotherapies by 2030.

Sean Marett, Chief Business Officer & Chief Commercial Officer at BioNTech SE, said:

BioNTech and the UK Government share a common goal – to improve the life of people by advancing healthcare.

Today’s news underlines that both BioNTech and the UK Government care about improving the outcomes for patients in the upcoming years as well as for generations to come.

A £1 billion investment from Dutch company Yondr will also turbocharge the UK’s tech and data capabilities, with a new 30MW datacentre in Slough that will create over 3,500 jobs, and clean energy-tech company Aira will also spur levelling up across the country by investing £300 million into heat pump rollouts, new jobs and upskilling.

The investment will support their goal of helping one million UK customers switch from gas boilers to heat pumps, create 8,000 green jobs and expand their Aira Academies to train and upskill plumbers and electricians for product installation.

Martin Lewerth, Aira Group CEO, said:

The UK is a crucial market to decarbonise, being one of Europe’s most populated countries and with the lowest heat pump penetration rate of just 1%.

We are excited to introduce Aira’s innovative home energy solution in the UK, and we are confident that our offering and value proposition, which includes substantial consumer cost savings, no need for lifestyle changes, and a zero upfront payment model, will be well-received.

Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said:

The UK is a world-leader in renewable energy and green industries. We have attracted £200bn in low carbon investment since 2010, with another £100bn expected by 2030, as we lead the second industrial revolution.

Aira’s £300m investment in the UK heat pump industry and creation of 8,000 jobs is a helpful contribution to our green ambitions, offering a cleaner heat source for our homes and growing the economy.

Families will benefit from lower heat pump prices with more trained installers and £7,500 grants through one of the most generous schemes in Europe.

And in a further boost for communities, PATRIZIA have announced £100 million for the development of highly sustainable affordable and social housing in England to increase supply of quality housing at affordable prices around London and the south east of England.

The programme has commenced with an investment to fund the development of 70 affordable homes in Milton Keynes.

Wolfgang Egger, Founder of PATRIZIA, said:

As a global real assets investor, PATRIZIA is thrilled to announce plans to invest £100 million into the development of highly sustainable, affordable housing in England.

The programme will help address the acute shortage of good quality, affordable, EPC A rated family housing for renters, and provide additional investment in social infrastructure. The investment strategy is a joint venture between PATRIZIA’s dedicated impact fund, PATRIZIA Sustainable Communities, and Man Group’s UK Community Housing business.

In a move to spur even more innovation and investment, the Government is also announcing the creation of three new regulatory sandboxes for hydrogen-powered aviation, autonomous marine vessels and drones, with Innovate UK launching a £110 million Investor Partnership for UK science and tech SMEs.

The Department for Business & Trade have also convened an expert panel chaired by Professor Vanessa Knapp to explore options for a UK corporate re-domiciliation regime to make it easier for foreign companies to relocate to the UK.

Further information

The full list of investments secured for today’s summit are as follows:

• £10bn – IFM Investors (Australia) – owned by Australian pension funds, the IFM MoU intends to invest in large-scale infrastructure and energy transition projects over the next four years.
• £7bn – Iberdrola (Spain) – With more than £2bn already invested in the UK as part of its previously announced £6.7bn programme for the years 2023-25, the company has announced today plans for over £7bn more in the years 2026-28. This amounts to a £12bn investment programme for 2024-28. Around two-thirds of the 2024-28 investments will be dedicated to transmission and distribution electricity networks, driven by regulatory arrangements in place (RIIO T2 and RIIO ED2), as well as projects like the innovative £2.7bn Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) subsea transmission cable, which received regulatory approval this month.
• £5bn – Aware Super (Australia) – for projects in energy transition, affordable housing, life sciences, innovation, technology and digital infrastructure, with a new UK office being opened last week.
• £2.5bn – Microsoft (USA) – critical AI infrastructure, including next generation AI datacentres and thousands of graphic processing units in the UK. More details will be announced later this week.
• £1.5bn – Companies owned by Partners Group (Switzerland) on behalf of its clients – Portfolio company North Star have committed £500m for offshore wind infrastructure over the next five years, creating 400 jobs in the UK, following a £200m investment for critical maritime infrastructure to Dogger Bank – the UK’s largest offshore wind farm. Additionally, portfolio company Gren have committed £1bn to support their ambition to invest in district heating and local energy systems that will deliver affordable green energy to over 200,000 homes and thousands of businesses. This is building on their network of 11 newly acquired waste and biomass fuelled assets, which play a key role in delivering baseload energy to customers, reducing waste and waste wood volumes to landfill.
• £1bn – BioNTech SE (Germany) – intends to expand its global R&D activities with a new laboratory in Cambridge as well as a centre of expertise for AI in London. This would be implemented through a rolling 10-year investment of approximately £1 billion, creating an additional 400 highly skilled jobs. It follows a major agreement between the Government and BioNTech SE this summer to provide up to 10,000 patients with precision cancer immunotherapies by 2030. BioNTech currently employs more than 5,700 employees globally and conducts clinical trials in over 30 countries worldwide. Today’s news reflects BioNTech’s ambition to expand in the UK, subject to finalising terms, and follows BioNTech’s acquisition of UK-based InstaDeep Ltd. BioNTech could employ more than 500 people in the UK by 2033.
• £1bn – Ellison Institute of Technology – investment at their recently announced Oxford Campus that will bring together global innovative thinkers to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. This includes the creation of a new scientific campus with AI GPU Supercluster lab, as well as the creation of the Ellison Scholars program to support up to 20 students per year at the University of Oxford including tuition, fees, and living expenses.
• £1bn – Yondr (Netherlands) – a new datacentre in Slough, which will progress from being a 30MW site to 100MW. Over 1,000 direct jobs created during construction phase, 2,500 indirect jobs for the whole project.  Around 50 full time roles will be created during the operational period.
• £300m – Aira Heat Pumps (Sweden) – investment over the next three years to progress work on helping one million UK customers switch to heat pumps. Over the next decade, Aira will create 8,000 new green jobs and invest in Aira Academies to upskill plumbers and electricians to install products.
• £100m – PATRIZIA (Germany) – for the development of highly sustainable affordable and social housing in England to increase supply of quality housing at affordable prices around London and the south east of England. The programme has commenced with an investment to fund the development of 70 affordable homes in Milton Keynes.
• £85m ($106m) – Oxford Quantum Circuits (UK, Reading) – will be the UK’s largest Series B in quantum computing, enabling industry-leading R&D that will further OQC’s ability to bring next generation platforms of hundreds of qubits to businesses globally.
• £10m – MediaTek (Taiwan) – combined investment between MediaTek Research and MediaTek Capital in innovative UK tech companies over the next 5 years.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 24 November 2023.

Nissan is delivering up to £2 billion of new investment to produce two new electric vehicle models in Sunderland.

Nissan is delivering up to £2 billion of new investment to produce two new electric vehicle models in Sunderland – helping to put more zero emission vehicles on UK roads which will make travel more sustainable and affordable in the long term, the Prime Minister has announced today (Friday 24 November).

Nissan have said their direct investment of up to £1.12 billion to produce the two models will enable wider investment in infrastructure projects and the supply chain, including a new gigafactory, bringing a total new investment today of up to £2 billion.

This builds on the £1 billion electric vehicle hub announced by Nissan and their battery partner AESC in 2021, and brings total investment since 2021 to £3 billion, safeguarding the future of Britain’s largest car factory as we move away from petrol and diesel cars.

Today’s announcement doubles down on this with all-electric replacements for the Nissan Juke and Qashqai models in addition to the all-electric Leaf replacement announced in 2021, supporting the future of Nissan’s highly skilled 7,000 strong UK workforce as well as the 30,000 staff employed in the wider supply chain.

This investment further cements the UK’s position as a global leader in Electric Vehicle manufacturing, delivers on the Prime Minister’s priority of growing the economy and drives forward the UK’s commitment to net zero.

The Nissan Sunderland plant is a longstanding UK success story, having opened in 1986 and grown into one of Europe’s largest car plants with world leading productivity. Earlier this year, Nissan marked the milestone of building their 11 millionth vehicle at the Sunderland Plant since production started – meaning that, on average, a new car has been produced at the plant every two minutes, every hour of every day, for 37 years.

Today’s investment takes the total Nissan investment in the UK past £6 billion and follows Nissan’s confirmation that all its new cars in Europe from now will be fully electric, with its passenger cars across Europe expected to be 100% electric by 2030.

In addition, today we have confirmed £15 million funding has been awarded for a £30m collaborative project led by Nissan. It will strengthen the technical expertise and R&D zero emission vehicle capability of the Nissan Technical Centre (NTCE) in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, increasing opportunities for securing additional UK R&D investment in future vehicle models.

It comes ahead of the Global Investment Summit next week, where the Prime Minister is expected to host over 200 of the worlds CEOs and financiers – including the CEO of Nissan Makoto Uchida – to showcase the UK as world leading place to invest.

The summit is expected to raise billions of pounds of high value investment to create thousands of jobs across the UK, with a special focus on high tech sectors such as innovation, research and development.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Nissan’s investment is a massive vote of confidence in the UK’s automotive industry, which already contributes a massive £71 billion a year to our economy. This venture will no doubt secure Sunderland’s future as the UK’s Silicon Valley for electric vehicle innovation and manufacturing.

Making the UK the best place to do business is at the heart of our economic plan. We will continue to back businesses like Nissan to expand and grow their roots in the UK every step of the way as we make the right long term decisions for a brighter future.

Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida said:

Exciting, electric vehicles are at the heart of our plans to achieve carbon neutrality. With electric versions of our core European models on the way, we are accelerating towards a new era for Nissan, for industry and for our customers.

The EV36Zero project puts our Sunderland plant, Britain’s biggest ever car factory, at the heart of our future vision. It means our UK team will be designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles of the future, driving us towards an all-electric future for Nissan in Europe.

Today’s announcement comes as a new Investment Zone was confirmed for North East England which is expected to create more than 4,000 new jobs over the first five years and leverage significant private investment including the new £2 billion investment announced today by Nissan.

Focusing on Advanced Manufacturing and Green Industries, the Investment Zone builds on the region’s key growth corridor the Arc of Innovation which runs from Northumberland down to Sunderland and Durham with opportunities along the Tyne Corridor and benefits felt across the wider region.

Nissan’s announcement today will provide a key anchor investment for the Investment Zone, which will provide £160 million of support including tax incentives, skills, development infrastructure and innovation funding over the next ten years – addressing barriers to growth, strengthening the local area and ensuring that the UK continues to win investment in the face of global competition.

At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced further measures to back businesses and remove barriers to investment. This includes making the Full Expensing scheme permanent so businesses can invest for less – delivering an effective permanent tax cut of £11 billion a year for businesses who invest in IT equipment, plant and machinery. The move is set to boost business investment by £14 billion and help grow the economy.

With the tax cut now permanent, the UK will continue to have both the lowest headline corporation tax rate in the G7 and the most generous capital allowances in the OECD group of major advanced economies, such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Germany.  Since the introduction of the super deduction – the predecessor to full expensing – in 2021, investment in the UK has grown the fastest in the G7.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said:

Today’s news is an enormous vote of confidence in the British economy, just days after we confirmed the most generous investment tax reliefs in the Western world.

Nissan has a proud history in car manufacturing in Sunderland and their continued commitment to the UK shows how our support for business is getting results – helping create thousands of jobs and solidifying Britain’s place as the world’s 8th largest manufacturer.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said:

The investment by Nissan in Sunderland shows once again that the Government’s plan for the automotive sector is working.

The forthcoming Advanced Manufacturing Plan will build on this deal and other recent big investment wins for the UK car industry, helping to support thousands of jobs and drive growth across the UK.

The automotive industry has a long, proud history in the UK, and a bright future. Supporting over 166,000 jobs and contributing £71 billion to our economy, it is integral to delivering on levelling up, net zero and helping to drive economic growth.

This announcement also follows other automotive success stories including Tata’s investment of over £4bn in a new 40 GWh gigafactory, BMW’s investment of £600m to build next generation MINI EVs in Oxford, Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units and Stellantis’ £100m investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van production.

Last week, the Chancellor announced that we’re making available £4.5 billion in strategic manufacturing sectors across the UK to unlock investment, support levelling up and enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero. This includes making over £2 billion available to the automotive sector from 2025 for five years to support the manufacturing and development of zero emission vehicles, their batteries and supply chain – building on existing support.

The UK has already overtaken France to become the eighth-biggest manufacturing nation in the world in the most recent data. Taken together, our manufacturing industries now contribute £205 billion to the economy and are boosting employment in every region of the country, including over 300,000 jobs both in the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber.

The Business and Trade Secretary is also set to announce the publication of the government’s Advanced Manufacturing Plan which will set out our comprehensive offer to the UK’s manufacturing sector to continue to boost long term sustainability and prosperity.

The Department for Business and Trade will also shortly publish the UK’s first Battery Strategy, outlining the Government’s activity to achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain in the UK by 2030 that supports economic prosperity and the Net Zero transition.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 17 November 2023.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 16 November 2023.

The King was pleased to approve government appointments.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 November 2023.

The Prime Minister spoke to the President Paul Kagame of Rwanda this morning.