CBI CEO's speech at UKREiiF 2026 on delivering infrastructure to boost growth

The connection between business and regional government is one of the great links that hold our economy together. Where we can make some of the biggest progress for growth. 

So I’m keen to get into that discussion.  

But first I want to say a few words about what the CBI has been doing on one key question – how do we get Britain building again? 

How do we get things done at pace, when people are frustrated by delay? 

How do we stay globally competitive, when other countries are moving faster and we risk falling behind? 

And how do we unlock the investment this country needs, when public finances are so tight? 

The answer to all three – is public private partnerships. 

 It’s been an intense couple of weeks. You’d have to be living under a rock to miss the politics. 

It’s been destabilising – for business and for communities.  

And one of the biggest causes is – change just hasn’t been happening at a pace people can feel.  

Above all in infrastructure.  

The hospitals people rely on. The school their children go to. The road and rail lines that get them to work.  

In the last two years the government has unveiled reforms to planning … NISTA… the Infrastructure Strategy.  

Lots of plans… but plans alone don’t pour concrete.  

What matters is delivery.  

That’s why the politics now is frustrating for business. It just adds uncertainty, distracts from the real work.  

Delivering the infrastructure we need is a complex challenge decades in the making.   

And today the CBI is publishing a report with Browne Jacobson that shows the scale of what we’re facing – and offers solutions.  

The first thing to recognise is – this isn’t just about money.  

For almost all the last 20 years, the UK had the lowest fixed assets investment in the G7.  

Not because the money’s not out there. It is.  

Other countries have attracted investment in infrastructure.  

No, the problem is confidence.  

We don’t have a consistent, reliable model for private capital to partner – with public projects.  

And let’s be clear – it is private investment we’re talking about.  

That’s the only way.  

The question is not – should public partner with private? 

It’s do we deal in half-measures – or do we get the full-scale delivery people are crying out for?  

Only private investment can do that. Especially in a threadbare fiscal environment – delivering with public money alone is a fantasy. There’s no magic money tree.  

 And here’s the thing – we’ve got examples where this is already working.  

Since 2014, Contracts for Difference have brought investment into 39GW of renewable energy.  

The latest round of contracts alone unlocked £22bn of private investment – supporting 7000 good, skilled jobs across the UK.  

PPP can work, does work and is already working.  

 The problem is – we don’t have a consistent model for it.  

We’re not replicating our success where we need it – in public infrastructure like schools, hospitals, reservoirs and roads.  

Right now the system looks less like a programme investors can get behind – than a scattergun of one-off projects.  

Without a clear model, we see familiar results – slow decisions, spiralling costs, delays, and investors wondering what the point is.  

 For business and people to feel change – that’s got to change.  

But one of the biggest barriers holding us back right now – is fear.  

For too long this government and its predecessor have been afraid of a ghost – and it’s called PFI.  

I think now is the time to face that fear head-on.  

In the last 8 years since we blocked new PFIs in England, over 1000 new PPPs have successfully reached financial close around the world.  

Our competitors in the US, Canada and Australia have reformed PPP models that work.  

Clear pipelines that bring in investment and turn out results – on time.   

This is one of the biggest opportunities we’re missing.  

 So what we’re recommending is a modern, clear delivery system for PPPs.  

This isn’t about giving PFI a re-brand    

It’s about building a stable, credible model with clear guardrails for risk – that learns the lessons of PFI.  

Where we standardise and simplify when it reduces cost and friction.  

But we tailor when it improves prices and results.  

 And we've got to get right who business partners with in government.  

Often that should be mayors. 

In every region, business needs one front door for investment.  

We must get devolution right – that’s what we’re here to discuss.  

Instead of a patchwork of powers, where investors don't know who can do what, we need a standard devolution offer that’s wider and deeper. 

Where mayors have the power to do more.  

The funding certainty to do it.  

And where central government trusts regions – sets the guardrails then gets out of the way.  

A system not of micromanagement, but earned autonomy.  

 I won’t go into all the details of what we set out.  

A complex problem calls for complex answers.  

But what I will say is it’s time to stop looking over our shoulder at the ghost of PFI.  

Infrastructure is where growth stops being a slogan and becomes real, positive change for people. 

Now is the time to start looking together at how public and private, business and government – can deliver that change together.