The UK government has pledged to boost its commitment to “make Britain the best place to start up, scale up and stay,” UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves MP has announced during her Autumn 2025 Budget announcement this afternoon.

This year, the Budget is prioritising national development, encouraging more businesses to invest and do business in the country so it remains competitive globally.

“If you build here, Britain will back you,” the Chancellor said during her address. “We are putting money and power back in the hands of regional leaders.”

On AI Growth Zones and cutting the ‘red tape’ for the nuclear industry

Having noted that public investment is the highest in four decades, the UK Chancellor noted that the government would be committed to advancing steel and AI to “drive innovation here in Britain”.

Additionally, steel is a critical component of data centre construction and something that the government pledged to support last year with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, designed to support faster building of facilities to support AI innovation.

Part of the government’s plans involves a focus on AI and automation support – with two AI Growth Zones worth £10 million being promised to Wales – and the country’s first small modular reactors (SMRs) to be built in-country with Rolls-Royce.

The data centre industry has looked to nuclear in recent years as a cleaner and more efficient way to run its operations. Tech giants like Amazon and Google are already investing in nuclear to run data centres to expand their operations in a way they deem more energy efficient.

Rolls-Royce has been doing plenty of work in the data centre space in recent months, having planned to use nuclear-powered SMRs to meet AI energy needs. The company is working to cut fossil fuel reliance in global data centre operations, having previously signed agreements to develop three SMRs in the UK and six in the Czech Republic.

The company believes its SMR programme could contribute up to $73bn to the UK economy between 2025 and 2105, with 90% of manufacturing and assembly taking place in UK factories.

Get Britain building: UK government’s pledge to support digital innovation

Particularly as the global AI race continues, data centres are being increasingly seen as critical for driving AI growth. Last year, the Autumn Budget doubled down on its plans to make the country more of a hub for cutting-edge technology advancement, aligning its initiatives with its ‘modern industrial strategy’ to become a leader in green digital transformation.

This year’s Budget focuses on its ‘get Britain building’ pledge to prioritise innovation.

“Private investment is the lifeblood of economic growth,” the Chancellor said in her address today, having stated that low investment is the cause of the UK’s current productivity problem.

She stated that the government would be expanding enterprise management incentives so more companies can offer tax relief options for countries who choose to list in the UK. This could be a positive for data centre companies looking to invest in new regions.

The UK is faced with global competition for capital, as enterprises decide where in the world to invest. Countries that cannot attract investment face slower innovation.

The UK Chancellor said the government was committed to “championing innovation, not stifling it”.

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Hero image: Rachel Reeves MP, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (credit: GOV.UK)