Microsoft's UK boss has confirmed the company remains committed to its £22 billion UK investment plan, despite withdrawing from a project that would have created the country's largest AI data centre. The decision comes as new research from the technology giant shows rapid growth in AI adoption among British businesses and workers over the past year.
Last year, Microsoft announced it would invest £22 billion to support an expansion of Britain's AI infrastructure between 2025 and 2028. Part of that plan included backing UK start-up Nscale's proposed data centre in Loughton, Essex.
However, earlier this week Microsoft confirmed it had pulled out of a deal to lease computing capacity from the site, following concerns that it would not have access to the power grid until after 2030.
Investment plan unchanged
Darren Hardman, chief executive of Microsoft UK and Ireland, told the Press Association that the group's UK investment plan "will not change" despite the withdrawal. "When you look at the 30 billion dollar investment between 2025 and 2028, it is a small component of that," he said. "We are still fully committed to that investment package."
Hardman stressed that the firm remains "committed" to its relationship with Nscale, with plans to work with the data centre on several sites outside the UK. He also told PA that he has held positive discussions with Prime Minister Andy Burnham about potential opportunities linked to AI since being appointed to the role this summer.
AI adoption on the rise
Hardman pointed to Manchester as a positive example of an area where AI adoption is rapidly growing and helping to support economic growth prospects. The comments came as data from Microsoft showed that AI adoption has increased further across the UK over the past year.
Around 43.7% of Britons used the technology in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 36.6% a year earlier. This places the UK eighth in the world and second in the G7 group of countries for the pace of generative AI adoption. However, it remained below top-performing countries the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, which reported AI diffusion rates of 73.3% and 64.3% respectively.
