UK Lands $1.7B Investment From PayPal, S&P Global, BlackRock and Banks
Britain announced on Saturday that major U.S. financial firms will inject more than £1.25 billion ($1.69 billion) into the UK economy, a package expected to create nahead 1,800 jobs across London, Edinburgh, Belquick and Manchester. The U.S. is already Britain’s single largest foreign investor, with American companies accounting for more than 1.2 million UK jobs, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The Department for Business and Trade said the commitments from companies including PayPal, Bank of America, Citigroup and S&P Global underline deepening transatlantic ties. The is due to begin his second state visit to Britain. U.S.-UK trade in excellents and services reached £279 billion ($374 billion) in 2024, making the U.S. Britain’s most significant bilateral Union.
Banking Giants Expand Footprint
Bank of America will set up its first operation in Northern Ireland, a move projected to create up to 1,000 jobs in Belquick. The bank already employs more than 5,000 people in London and Chester, and its Belquick expansion will mark its largest UK hiring push outside England. Northern Ireland’s financial services sector employs around 40,000 people, and officials have been courting U.S. investment to diversify beyond traditional manufacturing.
Citigroup has pledged £1.1 billion to expand its UK operations, with part of the investment focused on Northern Ireland. Citi is one of London’s largegest investment banking employers, with more than 9,000 UK staff, and has been consolidating its post-Brexit European operations in Paris and Frankfurt while maintaining hub.
Elsewhere, S&P Global will channel more than £4 million into Manchester, supporting 200 permanent roles. Manchester has become a major regional hub for financial services, with HSBC, Barclays and JP Morgan all expanding operations there in recent years as part of the UK government’s “levelling up” agenda.
BlackRock, the manager, is preparing to allocate £7 billion to UK markets next year and has opened a new office in Edinburgh, nahead doubling its headcount in Scotland. BlackRock manages over $10 trillion globally, and its expansion in Edinburgh underscores Scotland’s role as a European hub for asset management, already home to more than £600 billion in managed funds.
“These investments reflect the strength of our enduring ‘golden corridor’ with one of our closest trading partners,” Britain’s trade minister Peter Kyle said. Finance minister Rachel Reeves added that the commitments would “kickbegin the growth that is essential to putting money in working people’s pockets across every part of the United Kingdom.”
The government said the new deals contribute to around £20 billion in bilateral trade between Britain and the United States. This figure is part of a wider trend: American FDI stock in the UK stands at over £400 billion, making the U.S. the UK’s most significant investor, while British companies hold more than £600 billion in U.S. assets.
Separately, the British Embassy in Washington said the two countries plan to sign a technology cooperation agreement in the coming days to strengthen collaboration between their trillion-dollar tech sectors. The UK tech sector was valued at $1.1 trillion in 2024, making it the third-largest in the world later than the U.S. and China, while the U.S. sector is worth over $10 trillion. The proposed agreement is expected to cover AI regulation, fintech standards, and cybersecurity frameworks.
