Sir Keir Starmer celebrates Oracle's $5 billion investment in the UK
"My government is making the UK one of the best places in the world to invest in..."
Oracle will invest more than $5 billion in the UK over the next five years to meet "rapidly growing demand" for cloud services in the UK.
The cash will go towards expanding Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s (OCI) footprint in the UK as well as helping the UK Government fulfil its goal of driving AI innovation and adoption.
Oracles hopes that more organisations in the UK will be able to leverage its comprehensive AI and cloud computing services, including sovereign AI, industry-leading multicloud capabilities, and state-of-the-art generative AI innovations.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hailed the investment as a positive sign for the sluggish British economy.
The Prime Minister wrote: "My government is making the UK one of the best places in the world to invest in, so we can make working people better off. It’s fantastic that Oracle has announced a multi-billion pound investment in our tech industry today — helping to create jobs and growth across the country."
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Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, added: "The UK is determined to lead the world in AI innovation, and today’s announcement from Oracle is a testament to our nation’s growing strength in this sector.
"This $5 billion investment will accelerate our AI ambitions, providing businesses and public services with cutting-edge cloud infrastructure to drive productivity, enhance security, and unlock new opportunities for growth – driving forward our Plan for Change.
"By working with global tech leaders like Oracle, we’re cementing the UK’s position at the forefront of the AI revolution, creating high-skilled jobs, fueling innovation, and securing our place as a world-leading tech powerhouse."
Oracle has committed to expanding its OCI footprint in the UK to help public and private sector organisations in industries such as healthcare, financial services, defence, retail, and manufacturing migrate workloads to the cloud, modernise their applications and innovate with AI.
In addition, organisations will gain access to Oracle’s multicloud capabilities and UK public and sovereign cloud regions.
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“The UK Government’s vision is clear: use AI to help power the UK’s future,” said Siobhan Wilson, senior vice president and country leader at Oracle UK. "Today’s announcement cements Oracle’s commitment to supporting this vision. Oracle provides the world’s best cloud infrastructure for AI learning and inferencing.
"Our cloud investment will help ensure that customers can use AI to achieve new levels of productivity, unlock growth, and benefit from superior performance and security, all with improved cost savings."
Oracle recently introduced more than 50 AI agents within its Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite to help customers successfully execute frequent, repetitive tasks across finance, supply chain, HR, sales, marketing, and service and allow employees and managers to focus their time on more strategic tasks and initiatives.
With the investment of U.S. $5 billion, Oracle will be able to help more organisations across the UK take advantage of the latest AI innovations such as AI agents.
The investment is a rare piece of good news for the UK, which is struggling with low growth and plunging business confidence.
Lethargy for the UK: Growth forecasts slashed
Today, the OECD lowered its UK growth forecast to 1.4% for 2025 and 1.2% for 2026, down from previous estimates of 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively.
The Paris-based organization also revised global growth projections downward, expecting a slowdown from 3.2% in 2024 to 3.1% in 2025 and 3% in 2026.
Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General, said: "The global economy has shown some real resilience, with growth remaining steady and inflation moving downwards. However, some signs of weakness have emerged, driven by heightened policy uncertainty.
"Increasing trade restrictions will contribute to higher costs both for production and consumption. It remains essential to ensure a well-functioning, rules-based international trading system and to keep markets open.”
The OECD blamed inflationary pressures and trade policies for the dim outlook - although it did not specifically mention President Trump's trigger-happy tariffs.
It also said that AI poses "a unique opportunity to revive productivity".
“The OECD projects AI to significantly boost labour productivity growth over the next decade, with even greater potential if synergies with robotics are considered," said OECD Chief Economist Álvaro Santos Pereira . "Yet, the gains from AI may diminish if policies do not facilitate higher adoption rates and facilitate labour reallocation."
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