PRESS RELEASE : Chancellor announces £8 billion Amazon Web Services investment, as she vows to make every part of Britain better off [September 2024]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 11 September 2024.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves secures a planned £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year across the UK.

• The Chancellor will welcome the announcement as part of the Government’s mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off
• Reeves will say the Government’s mission to ‘fix the foundations of our economy has only just begun’

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today [11 September] confirmed an £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support thousands of jobs across the UK.

The Chancellor secured the planned five-year investment last week at a meeting with Amazon Web Services. The investment is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the company’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering and telecommunications, as well as well as other jobs within the broader local economy. AWS estimates that these investments in the UK will contribute £14 billion to the UK’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2024 to 2028.

Rachel Reeves will welcome the announcement as part of the government’s long-term mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off.

Speaking from a University Technical College in Silverstone today, which works with Amazon Web Services to introduce students to the skills required to enter the digital infrastructure industry, the Chancellor will warn that ‘change cannot happen overnight’ and ‘two quarters of positive economic growth will not make up for fourteen years of stagnation under the previous government.’

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said: 

I am under no illusion to the scale of the challenge facing our economy and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight. Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for fourteen years of stagnation under the previous government.

However, this £8 billion investment marks the start of the economic revival and shows Britain is a place to do business. I am determined to go further so we can deliver on our mandate to create jobs, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off. The hard work to fix the foundations of our economy has only just begun.

Amazon Web Services Vice President and Managing Director, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Tanuja Randery said:

The next few years could be among the most pivotal for the UK’s digital and economic future, as organisations of all sizes across the country increasingly embrace technologies like cloud computing and AI to help them accelerate innovation, increase productivity, and compete on the global stage.

AWS is proud to announce our plans to invest £8 billion in digital and AI infrastructure over the next five years to help meet the growing needs of our customers and partners, and support the transformation of the UK’s digital economy.

The investment announcement comes ahead of this year’s UK International Investment Summit on 14 October, where the UK will bring together the world’s most important companies and investors, demonstrating how the UK’s offer is the best in the world, with political and economic stability, a strategic government partnering with businesses, a proper trade strategy, and policies designed to enable growth.

Today [11 September] the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published their biennial surveillance of the UK economy, which provides analysis and insight of the state of the UK economy and policy challenges. HM Treasury have worked closely and collaboratively on the Economic Survey with the OECD.

The Survey recognises the UK’s weak growth and poor productivity growth over the past decade. This is partly the result of low investment, particularly since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016. It highlights the importance of stability and certainty for business investment, as well as reforming the planning system.

The government welcomes the OECD’s analysis and recommendations. The government’s number one priority is to deliver a sustainable increase in growth, based on stability, investment and reform, as part of a decade of renewal. The government has already announced plans to reform the planning system and unlock further investment, including through a new National Wealth Fund.