The North East is one of dozens of areas trying to catch the eye of national and international finance chiefs at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds
16:52, 19 May 2026
The North East is trying to catch the eye of national and international investors at UKREiiF(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Political and business leaders from around the North East have set up shop at the country’s largest investment event in a bid to make the schemes that could bring thousands of jobs to the region a reality.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness is leading a delegation from the region at UKREiiF in Leeds, a massive annual event that brings together thousands of people from the global investment and real estate community.
The region is planning three days of presentations at the event, where it will be competing with similar delegations from around the UK. Places elsewhere in the North, as well as in the Midlands, the South and London are competing to catch the eye of investment companies at the event.
The North East has been boosted on the first day of the event by the support of Charlie Nunn, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, one of the UK’s largest finance companies. On a panel with Ms McGuinness, he described the North East as a “national asset” and praised the role the region was taking in the transition to green energy.
That praise came as Lloyds and the North East mayoral authority joined forces to form a dedicated taskforce that aims to bring billions of pounds into the region’s economy and create thousands of jobs. The North East Ports Investment Taskforce has been given a 12-month deadline to come up with a firm plan to create jobs on the Tyne, around the Port of Blyth and on the Wear.
As well as Lloyds and the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, the Government’s Office for Investment and the National Wealth Fund, The Crown Estate, and the region’s ports will sit on the body.
Ms McGuinness said: “We aim to see 25,000 new jobs created by 2035 because we know the potential for growth is huge so now is the time to grasp this opportunity with both hands. There will be something like 460 new turbines going up just off our coast and banks and energy firms want to invest billions in North East England’s ports and supply chains across the North East which means new jobs that will last for local people.”
Today’s announcement at UKREiiF builds on the partnership announced at another summit held in the region earlier this year. Lloyds said then that it would make available £1bn of new finance to businesses across the North East this year, particularly those working in the green energy transition. This forms part of Lloyds Banking Group’s plan to make over £35 billion of new finance available to companies operating and investing in the UK in 2026.
Lloyds Bank group chief executive Charlie Nunn said: “The energy coast in the North East of England is a strategic national asset – powering tomorrow’s industries and the UK’s clean energy future.
“As one of the UK’s leading banks for infrastructure and project finance, we’re working closely with the North East MSA and OFI to enable greater innovation, job creation and sustainable growth. The new North East Ports Investment Taskforce will bring together private and public partners to accelerate investment into critical infrastructure, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
Earlier in the day, the North East had launched its pavilion at UKREiiF with the launch of a film by Carley Armstrong, a Sunderland-born TV producer who has worked on Adolescence and 28 Years Later. The film – the first to be made at Sunderland’s Crown Works Studios – highlights investment opportunities in the North East including Crown Works, the AI growth zone in Northumberland and North Tyneside, and advanced manufacturing.
UKREiiF has also seen Northumberland County Council launch a new site which aims to help create up to 5,000 jobs. The 77-hectare site near Cambois aims to build on the recent success of attracting the QTS data centre and the JDR Cables plant to the area.
This year’s event in Leeds was preceded by the Great North Investment Summit, which was co-ordinated by North East leaders to bring together mayors across the North in putting forward a shared prospectus for multibillion-pound investment schemes around the region.
