This article by Jon Phillips, Chief Executive of GIIA, originally appeared in New Civil Engineer in June 2026.
Successive governments have signalled their desire to make the UK one of the most attractive destinations for international investment.
Last month’s King’s Speech set out the government’s intention to deliver “world class infrastructure” in the UK – referring specifically to reform in key utilities, large-scale rail and road projects, and mitigating against current global energy pressures.
This week marks a year on from the launch of the government’s ten-year infrastructure strategy. At the time, the plan was a welcome commitment to long-term coordination, planning, and delivery of infrastructure that will connect and serve communities across the UK – ultimately driving economic growth.
Building and operating the infrastructure to drive growth will clearly not happen overnight. But we know from our latest Pulse Survey of Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA) members that sentiment towards the UK market is rising.
Subsequent proposals in the King’s Speech to accelerate grid investment, expand nuclear capacity, reform the water sector, and unlock private finance for major transport projects demonstrate a continued understanding that infrastructure must sit at the heart of the UK’s growth agenda. But these proposals require time, money, and clarity on how they will be delivered.
Private capital is increasingly central to meeting enormous infrastructure funding needs – with an estimated $106tn (£80tn) required worldwide by 2040.
GIIA members bring not only the capital to help close that gap, but the expertise and experience of building, owning, and maintaining large-scale projects around the world. For context, our latest Pulse Survey covering December 2025 to May 2026 collated responses from members with over $1tn (£750bn) in infrastructure assets under management worldwide.
Our Pulse Survey has previously shown the impact political risk can have on investor sentiment towards the UK. And the ten-year infrastructure plan was a welcome signal in derisking private investment in the asset class, which is long-term by the very nature of infrastructure projects themselves.
From an all-time low in our Pulse Survey in autumn 2022, as Liz Truss took over from Boris Johnson, sentiment towards the UK has slowly been improving.
Historically, the country has long been one of the world’s leading destinations for infrastructure investment, with deep capital markets, sophisticated private finance mechanisms, and a track record of successful public–private partnerships (PPPs).
Setting aside current unpredictability, when the Starmer government first came to power, markets were encouraged by early policy signals.
A renewed focus on economic growth, a commitment to planning reform and the establishment of institutions designed to crowd in private capital and mechanisms that went beyond traditional election cycles all pointed in the right direction.
Delivering the new ten-year infrastructure strategy in its first 12 months has provided investors with a long-term framework that moves beyond traditional election cycles. This was supported by the creation of a National Wealth Fund, and the strengthening of the Office for Investment to show that the UK was reopen for business.
The government also established the Independent Water Commission, whose recommendations to reset water regulation were widely welcomed. And more recently appointing the Senior Adviser on Water Reform Transition, to push the process forward has been another crucial step warmly received by investors.
But despite these important steps and the country’s strong potential, investors prize stability and predictability. And too often, the UK’s policy environment operates on a reactive and unpredictable basis, while a lack of visibility over project pipelines and delivery models continues to disrupt confidence.
The levels of ‘healthy and visible’ PPPs promised in the ten-year infrastructure strategy have certainly not yet mobilised, despite the UK being an early pioneer of these mechanisms. Although encouragingly, the Treasury is now openly engaging with leading investors through the British Infrastructure Taskforce on greater use of PPPs.
The lack of clarity and predictability partly explains why, although our latest Pulse Survey shows overall investor sentiment moving upwards, concerns around political instability and regulatory complexity remain as barriers to investing in UK infrastructure. For example, the slow pace of progress on water reform, and retrospective changes to the Renewables Obligation scheme which impact investors in the energy sector.
The pursuit of “world class infrastructure” in the recent King’s Speech invites comparisons with other markets around the world. The Pulse Survey highlights how Canada and Germany have risen to the top of the investor sentiment ranking as the most attractive infrastructure markets globally – and how these countries are underpinned by clear policy signals to attract private sector investment and efforts to improve planning processes.
In this context, the UK cannot afford complacency in delivering its long-term infrastructure strategy. It must compete in the global race for capital. If it fails to deliver on its intentions, international investors will simply look to markets where policy is clearer and risk is better managed.
The right infrastructure projects drive productivity and underpin economic resilience. But the government must double down on its efforts to attract long-term international investment if it is to meet its infrastructure ambitions, ranging from achieving net zero to transport modernisation that works across the whole of the UK.
If the government is serious about putting infrastructure at the heart of its economic agenda, it must provide greater clarity on project pipelines, ensure regulators deliver growth and, crucially, resist the temptation to make short-term, reactive policy interventions that are so damaging to investor confidence.
With countries competing ever harder to attract highly mobile capital, delivering on these ambitions will ensure it reinstates its reputation as a leading destination for infrastructure investment. If it cannot, others will continue to eat a greater share of the pie – at the expense of regions and communities across the country.
In the midst of the latest political storm around the Labour leadership, the world’s leading infrastructure investors are watching developments closely.