Driving growth across the United Kingdom

Working in partnership with mayors, devolved governments and local leaders, government is removing the barriers holding back city regions, clusters and growth corridors – helping to build a more connected, higher-wage economy, where businesses can grow and people can access good jobs and opportunities where they live.

Clusters and Corridors 

The Northern Growth Strategy is expanding the Northern Growth Corridor and wider North, from Liverpool to the North Sea, as part of the Northern Growth Strategy. This is connecting communities to opportunities, by allocating up to £45bn for Northern Powerhouse Rail and £10.4bn in Transport for City Regions funding, alongside £1.7bn of City Investment Funds.

There have been major IS-8 investments such as a £51m National Cryogenics Facility at Sci-Tech Daresbury, and the government is working with northern Mayors and local leaders to provide exciting opportunities for investors.

In the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor, the government has committed £800m for land acquisition and infrastructure, set up the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation and showcased the Corridor’s IS-8 opportunities. This has already helped unlock private investments including £10bn from the Ellison Institute of Technology in Oxfordshire, and the multi-billion-pound expansion of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and Universal United Kingdom Resort in Bedford.

The Edinburgh-Glasgow Central Belt is one of Europe’s most dynamic and innovative clusters for science and technology. UK Research and Innovation has backed the Edinburgh Supercomputer with up to £750m, putting Scotland at the heart of the next great industrial leap through AI and technology. The Ministry of Defence has announced the £50m Scotland Defence Growth Deal, meaning Scotland will benefit from its share of the estimated 50,000 additional defence jobs needed across the UK by 2034/35.

Local leaders and national government are making the UK the best place to invest in, bringing forward investment-ready sites at pace.

• 13 Local Growth Plansopens www.gov.uk in a new tab published, setting out 10-year economic visions and investment pipelines for each region.
• 22 Industrial Strategy Zones are attracting major investments across the UK – like the £600m sustainable aviation fuel facility announced by LanzaTech at the Humber Freeport, expected to produce 80,000 tonnes of fuel every year.
• £500m Local Innovation Partnerships Fund launched, supporting local leaders in 17 strategic locations across the UK to attract private funding and create critical jobs. This includes £50m for Glasgow City Region, £30m for Cardiff Capital Region, and £30m for the Belfast and Derry/Londonderry corridor. Mayors of established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be given greater control of future Local Innovation Partnerships Fund investment in their areas after the next Spending Review.
• The National Wealth Fund’s four Strategic Partnerships with Glasgow City Region, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority are operational, and the British Business Bank has strengthened its place offer, including allocating an additional £100m capital to regional funds, committing £150m to northern clusters, and establishing a new Local Growth Network of investment and banking professionals across all nations and regions.
• We have made catalytic investments via Sector Plans, including the £150m Creative Places Growth Fund to help creative businesses and freelancers in five city regions outside of London flourish, and £100m in funding to build up electric vehicle manufacturing supply chains in the West Midlands and North East.
• £500m from the Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund and £2.3bn in City Investment Funds to specific Mayoral Strategic Authorities to provide high-quality commercial space through projects like Liverpool Knowledge Quarter and Sheffield Innovation Spine.
• The Strategic Sites Accelerator, which will bring forward more investible sites to market, has appointed CBRE as its National Delivery Partner. The programme is aiming to go live in the coming months, with details set out on the investment strategy, further opportunities for places and site developers to express interest, and decisions on support for a first wave of sites.
• Businesses are following this with major investments, such as Vestas’ €250m nacelle factory in Scotland, Woodbourne Group’s £400m investment in the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, Convatec’s new £500m Manchester R&D Hub, and AstraZeneca’s £300m investment in Cambridge and Macclesfield.