Latest news with #OfficeforInvestment
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Chancellor visits Bournemouth company to discuss growth
The Chancellor visited JP Morgan in Bournemouth. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves toured the financial services hub, meeting leaders and apprentices. She said: "Bournemouth is a hub for financial services and I'm determined to showcase its talents to financial services companies looking to grow and invest in the UK. "Like so many of our regions, this town is a potential engine of growth but has been neglected by successive governments and families and businesses have suffered as a result. "Under our plans, we'll unlock growth across Dorset and the wider region so we can create jobs and put more money in people's pockets and deliver on our plan for change." The Chancellor's visit aimed to highlight the importance of sectors beyond London, with Bournemouth identified as a key financial services cluster. The Office for Investment: Financial Services will promote these clusters to encourage growth and investment across the UK, creating jobs in the process. The financial services sector supports 1.2m jobs nationwide, around nine per cent of the UK's total economic output, with many of these jobs located in the 11 clusters identified in the strategy. Ms Reeves' visit was part of a wider tour of the South West, where she also announced a £28.6m National Wealth Fund investment in South Crofty Tin mine in Cornwall. The project could create 1,300 jobs for the region. As well as the project itself creating more than 300 jobs, it is estimated that a further 1,000 jobs will be created more widely as the company uses more suppliers like metal fabricators and electricians and the mine itself will fuel supply chains in in the UK. Ms Reeves also discussed government proposals to cut licensing red tape with staff at Harbour Lights fish and chip shop in Falmouth. The proposed changes, including more alfresco dining and extended opening hours, aim to boost the hospitality industry in Cornwall and beyond. The proposals will be put out for consultation later in the year. She also visited APCL A&P Falmouth, a ship repair facility and Kensa, a manufacturer of ground source heat pumps, to discuss plans to expand operations and boost the country's clean energy supply.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City Corporation says UK urgently needs 'one stop' investment hub for financial services
Britain urgently needs a 'one stop shop' advice and support hub for foreign investors or risk losing its status as a world-leading centre for financial services. A new report from the City of London Corporation said a Singapore-style financial services investment hub could unlock as much as £10 billion in investment by 2030. The report was written in close collaboration with HM Treasury, the Office for Investment and regulators, after consultation with more than 200 stakeholders across the UK. It warns that the country is at a 'now or never' moment to defend and grow its global leadership in financial services. The proposed hub would offer 'joined-up, tailored support from market entry to expansion'. The report, titled The Future of Financial and Professional Services Investment in the UK: A Strategic Blueprint for a Financial Services Investment Hub and Concierge Service, adds the hub 'will opportunities and seamless regulatory guidance'. It points out the UK has seen a 4% fall in its market share of financial and professional services foreign direct investment (FDI) projects since 2017 'while other financial centres have recorded accelerated growth over the same period'. The report argues that while the UK's strengths, such as its time zone, legal system, global financial infrastructure, and political stability, remain unmatched, 'these foundations must now be paired with modernised, frictionless investment services to remain competitive'. Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation, the governing body for the Square Mile, said: 'This is a now or never moment for UK financial services. If we don't act decisively, we risk losing our global position and the economic prosperity, jobs and innovation that come with it. 'Other markets have introduced services that fast-track market entry, including investor concierge services and fully coordinated government and regulatory support. The UK must urgently first match, then exceed these standards to remain competitive. 'We need a nationally joined-up service that makes the UK the easiest and most attractive place in the world to invest in financial services. This is an opportunity to protect and grow our future prosperity by encouraging government departments and regulators to work more collaboratively.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ministers to unveil revamped Whitehall investment hub
Ministers will this week unveil a revamp of the Whitehall investment hub that they hope will secure hundreds of billions of capital flows into the UK in the coming years. Sky News understands that Baroness Gustafsson, the investment minister, will address a private event on Thursday designed to relaunch the Office for Investment (OfI). Government sources said the revamp - in which Sir Keir Starmer's top officials and the Treasury have been closely involved - would align the UK's 'investment resources' under a single brand. The new OfI has absorbed teams from other Whitehall directorates with the objective of reducing confusion among international investors in Britain, according to the sources. Greg Jackson, the Octopus Energy chief, and Baroness Lane Fox, who chairs the British Chambers of Commerce, are expected to speak at the event in central London alongside senior government officials, according to people familiar with the agenda. Thursday's summit will come days before ministers launch the new industrial strategy, with the OfI charged with targeting investors in priority sectors such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing and life sciences. A beefed-up investment hub was among the key recommendations of the former business minister Lord Harrington's review - commissioned by then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt - in 2023. One insider said last year's International Investment Summit, at which ministers claimed to have drawn £63bn of new investment for the UK, provided a solid foundation for the revamped OfI. A further event designed to attract inward investment will be held in Birmingham later this year, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced on Wednesday. The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment on Wednesday afternoon.
