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The East of England represents one of the UK’s most compelling investment opportunities—combining scale, innovation, and growth potential.
The region contributes £163 billion in Gross Value Added, supports over 270,000 businesses, and provides 3.2 million jobs, making it a major engine of national prosperity.
With strengths across life sciences, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and agri-tech, the region is at the forefront of delivering the industries of the future. It leads theUK in R&D investment per capita and plays a critical role in national energy and food security.
Despite this, the region remains under-leveraged—receiving significantly less public investment than comparable areas. With targeted private and public investment, the East of England economy has the potential to grow to £220 billion by 2035, unlocking transformative opportunities for investors and communities alike.
Established to address fragmentation in regional investment promotion, Invest East simplifies how investors access opportunities by curating a high-quality pipeline of projects and offering a single, coherent regional proposition. It works in partnership with local authorities, industry, and institutions to ensure that investment opportunities are visible, credible, and investor-ready.
Over its initial three-year horizon, Invest East aims to position the East of England as the UK’s leading destination for inward investment—driving economic growth, innovation, and long-term prosperity.
The East of England is one of the UK’s most globally competitive regions, combining world-leading innovation with exceptional connectivity and a strong pipeline of investment opportunities.
It is home to globally recognised centres such as Cambridge’s life sciences cluster, A dastral Park’s digital hub, and leading agri-tech and food research institutions, underpinning leadership in high-growth sectors.
The region plays a critical role in the UK’s net zero ambitions, with significant offshore wind capacity, major nuclear assets including Size well, and rapidly developing hydrogen and clean energy ecosystems.
Its connectivity is a defining strength, with two Free ports, four major airports, and strategic rail and road corridors linking the region to London, Europe, and global markets.
Ports such as Felixstowe — the UK’s largest container port — enable global trade flows, while integrated logistics infrastructure supports advanced manufacturing and supply chains.
The region also hosts a pipeline of transformational projects worth over £4 billion, spanning life sciences, logistics, housing, and regeneration.
Flagship developments include major innovation campuses, net-zero logistics hubs, and large-scale mixed-use schemes that are actively seeking investment.
With a highly skilled workforce, world-class research institutions, and a strong culture of innovation, the East of England offers a compelling environment for investors.
Together, these strengths position the region as a key driver of UK economic growth and a leading destination for long-term, sustainable investment.
Invest East operates under a clear and robust governance framework designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective delivery, while maintaining a strong balance between public-sector alignment and private-sector expertise.
The Board provides strategic leadership, direction, and oversight for Invest East, setting priorities and guiding the regional investment agenda. It ensures alignment with national policy, represents the East of England to investors and government, and champions a pro-investment, cross-regional approach.
The Board is chaired by Jack Abbott MP (Member of Parliament for Ipswich), who acts as Non-Executive Chair, providing political leadership, national visibility, and advocacy for the region.
Board membership brings together senior representatives from key public and private sector organisations, including:
The Secretariat is delivered by White Hawk Green, acting as the operational engine of Invest East. It is responsible for programme coordination, investor engagement, pipeline development, reporting, and delivery of key outputs including the Investment Prospectus and events programme. White Hawk Green ensures that Invest East operates with commercial discipline while maintaining strong alignment with regional priorities and stakeholder needs. Kanda provides strategic advice on communication, external stakeholder engagement and brand and marketing.
Invest East is supported by a broad and dynamic Stakeholder Network, bringing together partners from across the region to support pipeline development, promotion, and investor engagement.
This includes:
This networked alliance model ensures that Invest East operates as a “one region” platform, coordinating activity across geographies while amplifying local strengths and opportunities.
White Hawk Green
White Hawk Green is the delivery partner for Invest East, providing strategic coordination, investor engagement, and programme management. With expertise in infrastructure, investment strategy, and public-private collaboration, White Hawk Green plays a central role in shaping the regional investment narrative and ensuring projects are positioned effectively for market engagement. The organisation brings deep experience in structuring investment propositions and connecting capital to opportunity, supporting both regional growth and long-term value creation.
Kanda Consulting
Kanda Consulting is a leading communications and advisory firm specialising in the built environment, energy, and infrastructure sectors. The firm supports partners in promoting sustainable growth, managing risk, and building trusted relationships across complex stakeholder landscapes. Kanda brings expertise in strategic positioning, stakeholder engagement, and communications, helping to elevate the East of England’s investment story to national and international audiences.
Invest East hosted a teach-in and roundtable event, “Attracting Investment into the East of England,” at Aviva’s offices in Norwich, in partnership with Aviva.
The session brought together senior voices from local government and the investment community, and was supported by White Hawk Green and Local Government East.
The event brought together senior voices from across the region to explore investor priorities, regional opportunities, and practical pathways to strengthen investment readiness across the East of England.
Attendees heard an in-depth presentation from Aviva on how institutional investors assess risk and certainty, and the steps involved in unlocking capital for UK places — offering valuable insight into the perspective of major investors as the region looks to attract further investment.
Invest East extended its thanks to Aviva for hosting the event at its Norwich offices, and to Mark Bousfield and Sian Morgan for their hospitality and for delivering an excellent presentation on the investor perspective.
The teach-in forms part of ongoing work by Invest East, in partnership with Aviva and supported by White Hawk Green and Local Government East, to connect local authorities with the investment community and support stronger, more investment-ready places across the East of England.
More updates on this initiative will follow.
The launch of Invest East at UKREiiF 2026 is a significant milestone in strengthening the East of England’s position as one of the UK’s leading destinations for investment, innovation and sustainable growth.
Hosted at the Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited Pavilion, the event brought together regional leaders, investors, developers and delivery partners to showcase a more coordinated and ambitious proposition for the East of England.
The launch highlighted the continued growth of the Invest East pipeline, expanding from approximately £4.2bn GDV to more than £5.5bn GDV, reflecting stronger regional collaboration, increasingly mature projects and growing investor confidence.
Discussions throughout the session focused on:
– Accelerating investment and delivery across the region
– The importance of public-private partnerships
– Strengthening regional coordination and planning certainty
– Creating investable, scalable opportunities for long-term growth
The event also showcased flagship opportunities across Stevenage, Watford, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Harwich and Borehamwood, reinforcing the scale and diversity of opportunity emerging across the East of England.
This is not simply the launch of a prospectus, it is the continued development of a coordinated platform designed to unlock investment, strengthen partnerships and support long-term regional growth.
Leaders from across government, industry, and investment gathered at the Opportunity EastConference to launch Invest East and highlight the region’s multi-billion-pound growthpotential.Chaired by Jack Abbott MP, the event brought together key stakeholders to showcase theEast of England Investment Prospectus and underline the region’s role in driving nationalproductivity through innovation.The conference marked a major milestone in establishing Invest East as a unified platform forinward investment—demonstrating strong cross-sector collaboration and a shared ambitionto unlock over £4 billion of investment-ready opportunities.
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