Danny Alexander showcases over £15 billion of opportunities to invest in UK infrastructure
Chief Secretary to the Treasury launches a guide to investing in UK infrastructure.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander MP, has launched a guide to investing in UK infrastructure at the Commonwealth Games Business Conference in Glasgow.
For the first time, this outlines 14 individual infrastructure programmes and projects worth over £15 billion that are open to investment, as well as explaining how the government is making it easier than ever before to invest in UK infrastructure.
New figures released from UK Trade & Investment show the UK has attracted the most inward investment projects since records began in the 1980s because of its growing economy, transparent legal system, strong regulatory framework and competitive tax regime. Within the 1,773 investment projects set up by foreign businesses in the UK during the 2013 to 2014 financial year, 310 were in infrastructure and energy resulting in 31,261 jobs.
The guide builds on this success, ensuring investors are aware British infrastructure continues to be an attractive prospect because of its long term and stable returns, plus unique support in the UK from policies such the Green Investment Bank and UK Guarantees Scheme.
In addition, after decades of underinvestment, the government is now providing unprecedented clarity around its infrastructure priorities; publishing the first ever UK National Infrastructure Plan in 2010 and compiling a detailed National Infrastructure Pipeline for the first time in 2011.
The latest update of the Infrastructure Pipeline, released today, will show that planned infrastructure investment has now increased to £383 billion to 2020 and beyond.
Danny Alexander launched the guide, compiled by HM Treasury and UK Trade & Investment, to an audience of British and international business leaders. Opportunities to invest in projects across the UK include:
- The Circuit of Wales – A long term sustainable regeneration project that provide two hotels and retail, residential and leisure facilities centred around a new leading motorsport destination
- The Shetland Investment Fund –expanding and upgrading the infrastructure needed to access the oil assets that lie to the north west of those islands
- Estover Energy – who are developing a number of new small‐scale Combined Heat & Power plants’
- The Green Investment Bank Offshore Wind investment Fund – which is seeking to partner with third-party institutional capital
- Carnbroe Energy From Waste Plant – which when operational will produce 22MW of electricity from waste
- Naert na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm – which has pre-qualified for a UK Guarantee from the Government and which is expected to be under construction by 2015
- Tender Round Three for the Offshore Transmission Regime – which will allow investors to invest in the transmission assets of the Westermost Rough and Humber Gateway offshore wind Farms.
- Thames Tideway Tunnel – a 25km sewage system that will meet London’s needs through to the 22nd Century
- Midland Metropolitan Hospital – a Public Private Partnership to build a new 600+ bed hospital in Birmingham
- Liverpool Waters – The rejuvenation of Liverpool’s historic docks, providing Residential, Commercial, Retail and leisure facilities that will facilitate the city’s economic growth in the 21st century
- Moray Firth & Inch Cape –two offshore Wind Farms in Scotland, each set to generate over 1000MW of electricity
Danny Alexander said;
Top quality infrastructure, like road, rail, energy and digital fuels growth and improves our daily lives. That’s why foreign investment into our infrastructure is a win-win situation. The prospectus I will launch next week highlights specific projects and sets out clearly why there has never been a better time to invest in the UK. Because of the changes we have made, the UK is one of the best places to invest in the world – we need to capitalise on that success.
Photo courtesy of Nuon on Flickr, used under Creative Commons.