Jason Stockwood has come a long way since his council estate upbringing on the north-east coast of England.
Boasting investments in over 100 startups and previous leadership positions in the travel industry, few were surprised when he was appointed Investment Minister in September.
Three months into the role, Stockwood remains focused on his plans to make growing and investing in tech in the UK quicker, easier and more lucrative. With the Modern Industrial Strategy plan, the government aims to make the UK one of the top three places in the world to create, invest in and scale-up a fast-growing technology business by 2035.
In an interview with Sifted, Stockwood explains how the strategy creates substantial opportunities for founders and investors, while promoting the UK as a high-growth destination for tech investment.
The Modern Industrial Strategy is stuffed with ideas: what are the key takeaways?
Stockwood: We’re focused on the implementation of the Industrial Strategy, building on Britain's strengths and making it easier, cheaper and faster to do business in the UK. It’s a cross-government effort and since launching we've secured over £250bn of investment commitments and 45k jobs. Global investors are calling Britain the best place to put their money again.
One of the proposals in the Modern Industrial strategy is new efforts to attract "elite global talent" to come and work in the UK with visa and migration reforms. Can you unpack this a little?
The Global Talent Taskforce actively supports researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top-tier management talent, engineers and high-calibre creatives, so all individuals who drive innovation and economic growth.
The UK's economic future depends on breakthrough innovation in AI, life sciences, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and creative industries which are all sectors at the heart of our Modern Industrial Strategy. These breakthroughs require attracting individuals at the very top of the international talent curve.
I’m seeing a lot of debate online regarding capital gains tax on tech founders: how will you get this tax policy right while maintaining confidence in the UK as a high return destination for tech investment?
The UK remains a highly attractive place to invest and we have the lowest capital gains tax rate and the lowest corporation tax in the G7.
Our new residence-based regime is simpler and more attractive, while also addressing tax system unfairness so every long-term resident pays their taxes here. We’re changing business rates, have trade deals with the US, EU and India, and interest rates have dropped five times since the election to help businesses across Britain.
The UK remains a highly attractive place to invest and we have the lowest capital gains tax rate and the lowest corporation tax in the G7.
This is all in service of building a strong tax base and fostering an environment that enables us to create a society of opportunity for everyone.
Hiring more UK-based AI companies to do government work is one of the pillars of the plan: can you talk some more about this?
The UK’s pro-innovation environment and clear government commitment to technology provide confidence for long-term investment. The UK also has a strategic location, access to international markets and a thriving ecosystem of startups and established firms, and these factors make it one of the most attractive destinations globally for advanced technology and AI investment.
Let’s talk more broadly about the AI Opportunities Plan: what are the key features of this plan?
There are dedicated zones to accelerate AI innovation and economic growth, starting with North Wales and these zones will deliver thousands of jobs, major investment and cutting-edge infrastructure to power next-generation AI technologies.
Our goal is to train 7.5m people in AI skills by 2030.
There’s an initial £5m per zone for tailored local schemes, supporting start-ups, research and development, and upskilling through programmes like TechFirst. Our goal is to train 7.5m people in AI skills by 2030.
New powers will allow developers to construct their own high-voltage infrastructure to speed up delivery. We’re also collaborating with universities, for example Bangor University, to advance AI research and ensure inclusivity for native languages like Welsh Gaelic.
We know where some of the AI Growth Zones will be located. When will we hear more detailed information on this?
Our announcement on November 13 confirmed North Wales as the first AI Growth Zone, with a primary base at Prosperity Parc in Anglesey. Some sites have already been announced in the 11 months since the launch of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, and more announcements will come in the next few months.
AI is energy intensive. How will the UK generate and sustain this energy? The Modern Industrial Strategy talks about lowering energy bills but there are fears AI could increase bills in the future. How can you square this?
Clean energy projects are already being linked to data centres to meet future energy demand. For example, the recent UK-US nuclear deal included plans from Holtec, EDF and Tritax to develop advanced data centres powered by small modular reactors.
This broader distribution helps reduce the burden on individual consumers, and will drive down bills for the average household.
We’re also exploring opportunities to work with developers to create low carbon electricity generation and storage for future data centres on site, as well as options for data centres to align their electricity usage to times of high electricity generation.
By increasing data centre capacity, the programme will spread energy system costs across a larger base of energy users. This broader distribution helps reduce the burden on individual consumers, and will drive down bills for the average household.
Finally, I understand that establishing AI Growth Zones is an attempt to ensure that AI opportunities are not just felt by the ‘golden triangle’ regions. Could you help sketch for me, for example, how South Wales and other regions will benefit from AI investment?
To bolster our offer on skills and support for AI adoption within the AI Growth Zones, we’ll invest up to an initial £5m per zone at a local level. That money will be used to deliver tailored schemes designed with local areas to accelerate economic growth and boost local research and development in AI-related sectors. It’ll also help to support the successful commercialisation and scaling of local startups in the tech and AI sector.
These announcements also coincide with the existing £187m TechFirst programme to build up an AI-ready workforce, as we work to train 7.5m people in AI skills over the next five years.
That money will be used to deliver tailored schemes designed with local areas to accelerate economic growth and boost local research and development in AI-related sectors."
With outline planning permission secured, the North Wales AI Growth Zone site is delivery and developer ready. The site is expected to deliver 2,450 direct and indirect jobs, as well as an additional 1,000 construction jobs.
This is an exciting opportunity for partnership with Bangor University on the Welsh Large Language Model which will provide much-needed power to expand the programme and ensure public services remain inclusive to native Welsh speakers across the country.
