Business “ready to support” UK with £500m investment following Chancellor’s first Budget

A US firm has announced a £500 million investment into a UK research campus following the Chancellor's first budget, supporting government plans to attract private investment and its industrial strategy.

The investment from San Francisco-based developer Prologis will create thousands of jobs, spearhead lifesaving biomedical breakthroughs and generate millions of pounds for the British economy every year. It comes just two days after the Budget pledged to unleash private investment to kickstart economic growth.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed the vote of confidence from business, which will expand a centre of excellence for medical research in Cambridge.

The Prologis investment funds a 115,000 square ft expansion to Cambridge Biomedical Campus - a world-leading biomedical cluster which currently generates £4.2bn each year for the UK economy.

The new development will house high-tech labs, supporting clinical trials and diagnostic services. It will inject millions into the British economy every year and create over 2,120 highly-skilled jobs – in roles from research to diagnostic.

The Cambridge Biomedical Campus is a world-leading life sciences cluster for biomedical research, healthcare, and education, which combines collaborations among academia, industry, and healthcare.

Research conducted at Cambridge Biomedical Campus addresses the most pressing global healthcare challenges, including developing techniques for spotting cancer early and understanding dementia - while contributing significantly to the economy and currently employing over 22,000 staff, many of whom are in highly-skilled roles.

Today's announcement from Prologis also builds on the £63 billion worth of investments secured at government's record breaking International Investment Summit last month - creating 38,000 jobs in the UK.

Securing investment is central to the government's mission to deliver economic growth which will create jobs, improve living standards, and make communities and families across the country better off. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:  

“This investment from Prologis – just two days after this government's first Budget - is a vote of confidence in our plan for the UK economy.

“After also attracting £63bn at the International Investment Summit, it's clear Britain is back in business. Economic growth is my number one mission, and unleashing private investment will play a major role in kickstarting it.”

Paul Weston, Regional Head at Prologis UK, said:

“There is a lot riding on this pivotal first Budget and strong support from the private sector to follow through on investment pledges will be critical. The government's commitment to unlock Foreign Direct Investment matches our own focus on partnering with public and private stakeholders to invest and deliver the infrastructure needed for sustainable, long-term growth. 

“Steps already taken through the launch of the National Planning Policy Framework and the Green Paper for the Industrial Strategy are paving the way for a stronger, more resilient industrial base. These initiatives will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of industrial innovation and Prologis are ready to support the government's ambitions, providing the spaces that can unlock growth and development.   

“We look forward to furthering our collaboration and investment activity, ensuring the UK continues to lead on a global stage.”

Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, said:

“The UK's life sciences sector is central to our ambitions for the UK – from driving economic growth through to saving and improving lives through better treatments.  

“Major investments like this from Prologis, bringing the sector's largest global companies under one roof in Cambridge, is another vote of confidence in the UK's approach to long-term growth. 

“Coming just days after the Chancellor raised public funding for R&D to record levels, this underlines how this Government is in lockstep with business in our joint ambition to make sure everyone in the UK benefits from advances in science and technology.”

The government is delivering its growth mission by prioritising stability, investment, and reform to drive prosperity across the UK. The Budget takes the difficult decisions to put the public finances on a sustainable path to create the conditions for growth, and to create a stable economic environment for businesses to invest.

Supported by the new fiscal framework, the Budget increases public investment by more than £100 billion over the next five years to boost growth and help crowd in private investment in the long run. This includes investing in transport, kickstarting the delivery of 1.5 million homes, supporting new industries and job creation, and protecting record R&D funding through a record £20.4 billion investment.

The government will also work in partnership with the private sector to further increase investment. The government has created the National Wealth Fund to catalyse over £70 billion of private investment, set out plans for a modern Industrial Strategy to support investment in growth-driving sectors.

The government has also published a Corporate Tax Roadmap to provide businesses the certainty they have called for. This confirms our commitment to cap the rate of Corporation Tax at 25% - the lowest in the G7 – for the duration of this parliament while maintaining full expensing and the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance and keeping the current rates of research and development reliefs, to drive innovation.

The Chancellor also set out how this government will transform the way it delivers infrastructure, including publishing a 10-year infrastructure strategy, establishing the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, delivering ambitious planning reform. 

At last month's investment summit, the Prime Minister also committed to get rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment and to upgrade the UK's regulatory regime to make it fit for the modern age and ensure it's not acting as a barrier for growth.

The Budget has set out a clear plan to fix the foundations of the economy and begin a decade of national renewal by protecting working people, fixing the NHS, and boosting investment to deliver growth and prosperity for all parts of the country.