0:01
150 billion pounds of investment has
0:03
been pledged by US giants itching to
0:05
pour their money into the UK, including
0:08
more than 30 billion quid to turbocharge
0:10
our artificial intelligence base. Well,
0:13
that's the plan. Let's unpack it.
0:15
Welcome to the week in business with me,
0:21
The choreography was masterful, and I
0:24
don't just mean the military and royal
0:25
welcome doled out to the Trumps and
0:27
their entourage, although it was pretty
0:29
spectacular. Along with the raw politics
0:31
of a state visit came a steady stream of
0:33
announcements of billions upon billions
0:35
of pounds worth of investment into a
0:37
whole range of sectors. So, let me say
0:40
hats off to the diplomatic and political
0:42
teams in Downing Street and our somewhat
0:44
bruised embassy in Washington for
0:46
pulling this all together. It takes a
0:47
lot to confirm and coordinate the kind
0:49
of announcements we've seen. And it is a
0:51
genuine coup for this government that
0:53
they've managed to do it, not least when
0:55
you consider how distracted they may
0:56
have been in recent weeks. Trump came to
0:59
the UK with a plane load of business
1:01
leaders, although to be fair, many of
1:03
them probably flew in their own jets,
1:04
and they have not disappointed. First
1:07
out of the blocks was news of the new
1:09
Atlantic Partnership for Advanced
1:11
Nuclear Energy, designed to make it
1:12
quicker for companies to build new
1:14
nuclear power stations in both the UK
1:16
and the US. The deal comes with a
1:18
commitment for advanced manufacturing in
1:20
the UK in places like Heartleyool, where
1:22
advanced modular reactors will be built,
1:25
heralding, we're told, a new age of
1:27
nuclear technology. Then came news of
1:29
the US UK tech prosperity deal. will
1:31
keep up with these deals which saw the
1:33
likes of Google, Salesforce and
1:35
Microsoft announce major investment in
1:37
the UK. Microsoft alone announced 20
1:39
billion pounds worth uh to go into AI
1:42
infrastructure alongside other
1:43
announcements for data centers and AI
1:46
research from the likes of Google. Then
1:48
last night, the government added all of
1:49
this up and declared that 150 billion
1:52
quids worth of investment has been
1:53
secured with 80 billion of that coming
1:56
from private equity giant Blackstone,
1:58
which already has sprawling investments
1:59
across UK real estate and
2:01
infrastructure. The buyout firm
2:03
announced in June it would spend nearly
2:05
400 billion pounds across Europe over
2:07
the next 10 years, and now we know how
2:08
much of that is earmarked for the UK.
2:11
Starmmer, who has needed some good news
2:13
of late, said that these deals were a
2:14
testament to Britain's economic strength
2:16
and a bold signal that our country is
2:18
open and ambitious. I think I'll give
2:21
him half of that. We are indeed open for
2:23
business. One might even say desperate
2:25
for business. But how is our economic
2:27
strength? Well, that depends where you
2:29
look. The pharmaceutical industry, for
2:31
example, is heading for the door,
2:32
warning that Britain just isn't
2:34
competitive enough. A billion pound lab
2:36
project was pulled from London last week
2:38
with other farmer giants cancelling
2:39
hundreds of millions of pounds in
2:41
research and development spending. We
2:43
also know that global investors and fund
2:45
managers are pulling their money out of
2:48
listed UK uh equities at the fastest
2:50
rate in two decades. Hardly a vote of
2:52
confidence in our fundamentals.
2:54
Meanwhile, retailers and big employers
2:56
are getting horse from sounding the
2:58
alarm about the state of the UK from
3:00
their perspective. next warned today
3:02
that the country faces years of anemic
3:05
growth. And this has all been discussed
3:06
plenty of times on this show. But when
3:08
it comes to AI and advanced tech,
3:10
clearly we are now doing something
3:12
right. Nvidia, arguably the most
3:14
important business in the world right
3:16
now, the firm behind the chips that
3:17
makes AI work, says the UK is in a sweet
3:20
spot and poised to become an AI
3:22
superpower. One reason for that is that
3:24
we're not in the EU and we can go our
3:26
own way on AI regulation. Another reason
3:28
is that we do have great foundations,
3:30
worldleading universities, amazing
3:32
startups, and economy geared towards
3:34
AI's potential. What's been missing is
3:36
the infrastructure, the massive data
3:38
centers and energy infrastructure needed
3:40
to power AI and we're told unlock its
3:42
full potential. But critics have
3:44
questioned whether the massive shopping
3:46
spree announced by US tech giants will
3:48
leave the UK is not much more than a
3:50
customer of these firms. Ministers and
3:52
the various tech leaders have been at
3:54
pains to stress that this is a
3:55
partnership. The money is flowing into
3:57
existing UK tech companies as well in AI
4:00
and in quantum computing firms which
4:01
will be, we're told, right at the heart
4:03
of the coming AI boom. Time will tell
4:06
whether that's the case or not, but it
4:08
does feel as if we're somewhat at the
4:09
mercy of America's tech juggernauts and
4:11
America's private equity big beasts.
4:13
Some people will feel a little
4:15
uncomfortable with this, and much will
4:16
depend on how UK firms grow into the new
4:19
spaces being opened up by this
4:20
investment, including in the UK's public
4:22
markets, where we could do with some
4:24
tech giants of our own. But for now, I'm
4:26
prepared to give all of this the benefit
4:27
of the doubt. We are talking about
4:29
potentially transformative sums of money
4:31
in potentially transformative parts of
4:33
the economy. I'd go as far to say that
4:36
from a business perspective, this is the
4:38
best week Starmmer has ever had and
4:40
Britain's best week since Star took
4:42
over. Long may it continue. But fear
4:45
not, I'll get back to moaning about
4:47
Rachel Reeves next week. In the
4:49
meantime, stay up to date and in the
4:51
know with the Cityam app and on
