Spending Review 2025: What’s in it for Scotland’s tech sector?
Earlier this month, techUK welcomed the UK Government’s 2025 Spending Review, which put tech and digital at the forefront of its plans for economic growth.
It announced an allocation of £2 billion for artificial intelligence until 2029/30, £160 million for TechFirst, an above-inflation increase for R&D funding, and an expanded British Business Bank designed to support start-ups and scale-ups to access finance.
For Scotland in particular, it saw:
- An investment of £8.3 billion over the parliament through GB Energy and GB Energy-Nuclear.
- Development funding to support preparations for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.
- £452 million for City and Growth Deals, supporting economic growth and regional development across the country.
- Defence investments, including in the redevelopment of HMNB Clyde and tech enablement
- £3 billion funding for the advanced manufacturing sector (UK-wide, 2026-27 to 2029-30).
- £2.25 million for Brand Scotland, to promote Scotland’s investment opportunities.
One of the highlights though, was the announcement that the UK Government would provide up to £750 million for a new supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh. It marks a U-turn for the UK Government, which suspended funding for the University project in August last year.
This will be the largest supercomputer in the UK, serving scientists across the country in a broad range of fields from the development of future drugs and vaccines to climate and weather prediction and fusion power research.
Reacting to the Spending Review, Matt Robinson, Head of Nations and Regions at techUK, said:
“Tech and digital are key to driving Scotland’s economic growth and we are pleased to see the emphasis the UK Government has therefore placed on it in the 2025 Spending Review.
The announcements have the potential to strengthen its position as an AI-leader, grow Scotland’s talent pipeline and find to solutions that will address real world challenges.
Success will, of course, be determined by the delivery and results. We look forward to seeing how things progress in the coming months and remainder of this Parliament, ensuring the voice of techUK members is part of the discussion and activity.”
Heather Thomson, CEO of The Data Lab and techUK member based out of the University of Edinburgh, said:
“We welcome these funding commitments, which recognise the power of data and AI to transform lives, drive innovation, and support inclusive economic growth.
These programmes will open new opportunities for people to develop digital skills, for businesses to adopt AI and transform productivity, and for public services to innovate.”
To read techUK’s broader “What’s in it for tech?” insight which includes a full breakdown of announcements and analysis, please click here.