Blackstone: Private equity giant backs £10bn AI data centre deal in UK

Private equity giant Blackstone has injected £10bn into the UK to build one of the largest artificial intelligence data centres in Europe.

The investment will build a data centre in Blyth, in the north east of England, creating more than 4,000 jobs. Construction of the site is expected to begin next year.

It comes after the government officially designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, ranking them as important as emergency services, finance, healthcare, energy, and water systems.

Blackstone president and chief operating officer Jon Gray said: “The UK is a top investment market for Blackstone because of its powerful combination of talent and innovation along with a highly transparent legal system.

“We are making significant commitments to building social housing, facilitating the energy transition, growing life sciences companies and developing critical infrastructure needed to fuel the digital economy.”

Data centres, considered the engine of the modern economy, are becoming an increasingly important linchpin in the UK technology industry.

They provide the processing power that fuels everything from financial transactions to the internet of things and advanced computing, including the creation and development of AI systems.

Starmer said: “The number one mission of my government is to grow our economy, so that hard-working British people reap the benefits – and more foreign investment is a crucial part of that plan.

“New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage and we’re open for business,” he added.

But the Prime Minister suffered a social media gaff on Thursday morning.

In a quickly-deleted post on Linkedin, he appeared to confuse Blackstone with investment management company Blackrock, posting a photo of himself and Larry Fink, the boss of Blackrock.