Money is flowing across the Atlantic as American financial groups line up a string of investments in Britain ahead of President Trump’s state visit next week.
For Kier Starmer, it represents a welcome injection of good news after a week of revelations, leaks and recrimination following the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the former US ambassador, whose links with Jeffrey Epstein made his position untenable.
According to reports, Citigroup is committing £1.1 billion to expand its UK operations, while S&P Global will invest £4 million in Manchester.
PayPal is also said to have pledged £150 million to product development, and Bank of America will open its first Northern Irish operation in Belfast, creating up to 1,000 jobs.
Alongside these projects, BlackRock plans to channel £7 billion into the UK market over five years, while Rothesay will match that figure in new US commitments.
It comes as it emerged that Google will invest £5 billion in the UK over the next two years to meet rising demand for artificial intelligence, in a move hailed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a “vote of confidence” in the economy.
The funding, which coincides with the opening of Google’s first UK data centre in Waltham Cross, will go towards research and development, capital projects and engineering.
The Department for Business and Trade said these combined moves amount to around £20 billion in trade, with £8 billion flowing into the UK.
Business secretary Peter Kyle hailed the activity as evidence of a “golden corridor” of investment. The timing also coincides with expectations that OpenAI and Nvidia will announce multi-billion-pound UK data centre projects during the visit.
Trump arrives Wednesday for two days of events, with talks likely to cover tariffs still imposed on British steel.