Starmer hails £10bn Northumberland scheme as sign of UK's potential

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has hailed a £10bn investment that will create hundreds of jobs in Northumberland as a “huge vote of confidence in the UK”.

The deal with US investment firm Blackstone to create a massive campus of data centres at Cambois, near Blyth, aims to boost the UK’s digital and AI sectors, with hopes that the centres will attract more hi-tech firms to the area.

Northumberland County Council first announced the deal in April, revealing that it had secured a £110m investment fund as part of the sale of the land that will be used for job creation schemes in the country. The site had previously been earmarked for the Britishvolt battery gigafactory, though those plans came to nothing when the company went into administration.

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The Government signalled shortly after winning the election that creating more data centres were a priority as part of its growth agenda, introducing regulations to classify them as critical national infrastructure. Blackstone - which will be running the site at Cambois through its data centre subsidiary QTS - said the development could create up to 4,000 jobs, including 1,200 in the construction phase that is set to begin next year.

Sir Keir is meeting a series of US business chiefs including Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, while in New York for the UN General Assembly.

He said: “The number one mission of my Government is to grow our economy, so that hard-working British people reap the benefits – and more foreign investment is a crucial part of that plan. New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage and we’re open for business.”

Mr Gray said: “The UK is a top investment market for Blackstone because of its powerful combination of talent and innovation along with a highly transparent legal system. We are making significant commitments to building social housing, facilitating the energy transition, growing life sciences companies and developing critical infrastructure needed to fuel the digital economy. This includes a projected £10bn investment to build one of Europe’s largest hyperscale data centres supporting 4,000 jobs. Blackstone is committed to Britain.”

Though the multibillion-pound scheme was first announced before July’s General Election, Sir Keir has welcomed the investment ahead of the UK’s International Investment Summit in October, which is set to bring together hundreds of leading CEOs and investors with a programme to showcase the UK’s economic strengths.

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “From the outset, we’ve always been clear this investment by Blackstone/QTS is a gamechanger for Northumberland and the region, so I welcome the Prime Minister throwing his full support behind this. Since January, my council has worked tirelessly to attract this £10bn investment by Blackstone / QTS and we continue to work with them ahead of the formal planning stages.

“Just yesterday, I wrote to the Prime Minister, inviting him to visit the site at Cambois to see for himself its enormous potential. I look forward to welcoming him to Northumberland and to discussing with him how further Government investment in our infrastructure can unlock even more economic growth. "

Shadow Science Secretary Andrew Griffith said: "Shamelessly taking credit for a Conservative achievement shows this clueless Government has nothing to offer. It was the last Conservative Government that delivered £10bn of investment for Northumberland, 705 additional police officers, £70mn of Levelling Up funding and a new hospital.

“Investors are already being turned off by the Chancellor’s talking down of Britain; the hostile business environment Labour are creating is bad for business, bad for Northumberland and bad for Britain.”