Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Investment in Businesses

Thursday 30 October 2025 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 3 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Secretary of State committed to supporting businesses in rural areas to thrive and grow.
  • The Government aims to position Warrington at the forefront of the digital technology and AI revolution.
  • The UK achieved a milestone in renewable energy production, surpassing 50% of its energy from renewables.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Terry Jermy Lab South West Norfolk
Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

A report by the Rural Coalition highlights that with the right policy framework, the rural economy could increase productivity and generate an additional £19 billion a year. The constituency of South West Norfolk faces similar challenges.

Question

A report by the Rural Coalition highlights that with the right policy framework, the rural economy could increase productivity, leading to an additional £19 billion a year. Will the Secretary of State outline what steps the Department is taking to help to support businesses in rural areas, such as my constituency, to unlock that growth potential?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend not just for his contribution, but for his advocacy for the rural economy. This Government are committed to supporting businesses, including those in rural areas such as South West Norfolk, to thrive and grow. We know that rural areas offer significant growth potential, contributing £259 billion to England’s gross value added in 023. My Department provides support through the Help to Grow: Management business support service and the New Anglia Growth Hub. Our plan for small businesses will hardwire small business voices into Government to boost growth.

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Q2 Sarah Hall Labour (Co-op) Warrington South
Economy Science & Technology
Context

Platform is transforming the former Unilever site in Warrington into a next-generation modular data centre, which will provide AI infrastructure and regional growth. The project aims to combine cutting-edge technology with high-value skills.

Question

In Warrington, Platform is transforming the former Unilever site where Surf and Persil were once produced into a next-generation modular data centre that will provide the capacity, resilience and connectivity needed to power the UK’s AI revolution. From Persil to pixels, Platform is taking a brownfield industrial site with more than a century of manufacturing heritage and bringing it into the 21st-century economy. Will the Secretary of State set out what more the Department can do to support home-grown, local companies such as Platform to deliver projects of this kind, which combine cutting-edge AI infrastructure, data sovereignty, regional growth and high-value skills for the future workforce?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle)

Warrington has been at the centre of previous industrial revolutions, and we are determined that it will be at the forefront of the industrial revolution that is unfolding, with a wave of digital technology and AI flowing across the world. We will use all the agency of this Government to ensure that all parts of the United Kingdom benefit equally from that. My hon. Friend will know that work such as that by Platform on the transformation of the Unilever site in Warrington is exactly the kind of bold, future-facing investment that we want to enable. That is why we delivered the AI opportunities action plan so swiftly. We will create AI growth zones across the United Kingdom to create the infrastructure in which new businesses and businesses that are transforming places and communities such as Warrington will be at the forefront and able to grasp the very best of the global economy in the regions and nations of every part of the United Kingdom.

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Q3 Arthur Lab Edinburgh South West
Climate Business & Trade

Question

One of the great things about Edinburgh South West is that it has a flourishing renewables sector, which I think is reaching critical mass. A few weeks ago, I attended a fantastic roundtable that demonstrated the industry’s desire to work with the UK Government to make their industrial strategy a complete success. Will the Secretary of State commit to meeting organisations in Edinburgh South West to discuss how we can ensure that our industrial strategy brings as many jobs as possible to Scotland’s capital?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle)

Again, my hon. Friend is a great advocate for the community that he represents in Parliament. I am very excited to meet the businesses that he references. We hit a milestone in the second quarter of this year, because the UK started to produce more than 50% of its energy using renewables. His community as well as other communities around the UK will benefit from the transition to renewables. This is an exciting time to do business, and this is an exciting sector of our economy; it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy, and right here in the UK we are benefiting the most from it.

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Q4 Harriett Baldwin Con West Worcestershire
Economy Business & Trade
Context

Business confidence has dropped to a record low since the Conservative Chancellor's budget last Halloween. The question addresses the need for increased business investment.

Question

I welcome the all-new ministerial team to their positions. They have inherited a crisis, because business confidence has plunged to a record low since the Chancellor’s Halloween budget a year ago today. Will the Business Secretary assure this House that he will find and demonstrate his backbone, stand up to the Chancellor, and encourage business investment by following Conservative plans to reduce welfare spending so that we can scrap the family business tax and cut small business rates?

Answer from Peter Kyle

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for welcoming me to the Dispatch Box. We are very aware that we inherited a crisis—a crisis created by the Conservative party, including the state in which they left our global relations, the lack of growth in the economy and the effects of the mini-Budget. The reputation of our country was in tatters as a result and our public services were on their knees, but all of those things are being turned around because of the decisions taken by this Chancellor. The Conservatives should be celebrating the fact that we had the fastest growing economy in the G7 for the first six months of this year, because these are the kinds of actions that show we are getting growth and stability back into our economy, and give businesses the predictability upon which to build future success and prosperity and the creation of jobs. The Conservatives should be celebrating that, not talking our country down.

Not addressed: The specific ask about reducing welfare spending and cutting small business rates was avoided in favor of criticizing the previous government.

How: Criticizing The Previous Government, Redirecting To Recent Economic Success

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