£1.25bn backing for Britain by US firms will bring 1,800 finance jobs

A NEW £1.25billion wave of American investment in the UK has been announced ahead of President Donald Trump's State Visit to the United Kingdom.

- By David Williamson

The boost to the nation's financial services sector will create more than 1,800 jobs in Belfast, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

Pledges to invest in jobs will be especially welcome in the wake of a series of blows to Britain's pharmaceutical industry.

AstraZeneca's plans to pour £200million into its Cambridge research site — which had been set to create 1,000 jobs — have been paused, while drugs giant Merck has abandoned a £1billion London research centre and is laying off 125 scientists in the capital this year.

But firms including PayPal, Bank of America, Citi Bank, and S&P Global have committed to investing here.

Bank of America will create up to 1,000 jobs in Belfast, Citi Group is putting £1.1billion into its UK operations, and BlackRock has a new Edinburgh office this week, which will see their "800-strong footprint nearly double".