MAG and transport firms urge Healey to close UK investment gap 2026

Key Points

• Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is among the transport and infrastructure investors asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey to plug the UK investment shortfall.
• The Oxford Economics study carried out on behalf of Getlink, Gatwick, Stansted and MAG shows that uncertainty in policy has resulted in almost £2tn in lost investment in the UK from 2000 onwards.
• According to the data provided, the UK invested 18.9% of its GDP in 2025 compared to an OECD average of 22.5%. Only Greece had a lower rate among 38 advanced economies.
• The open letter signatories state that the business rates reform has doubled or tripled bills and made the growth based on investments impossible.
• Getlink has stopped UK rail investment due to proposed rate increases, whereas Gatwick has stated that a 300% increase may put at risk its second runway.
• The letter dated September 8 was addressed before the Budget on October 28.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) September 2026 – Transport businesses and infrastructure investors have asked Chancellor John Healey to cultivate the conditions needed for long-term investment in the UK, with Manchester Airports Group among the signatories warning that the current tax and policy environment is deterring capital. The call comes as an Oxford Economics study, commissioned by Getlink (owner of the Channel Tunnel) and the companies behind Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports, concludes that inconsistent government policy has cost the UK nearly £2tn in missed business and infrastructure investment over the past 25 years.

Why the UK has fallen behind on investment

The report, titled The UK’s Investment Shortfall and published on 8 September, found that private investors in Britain pay an “unpredictability premium” because of inconsistent public policy and elevated costs of doing business. Of 38 advanced economies in the OECD, only Greece has been weaker than the UK for business investment in relative terms, the study said. In 2025 the UK invested 18.9 per cent of GDP, against an OECD average of 22.5 per cent, Oxford Economics calculated. If the UK had invested at the OECD average since the turn of the millennium, an extra £1.9tn would have flowed into the economy, including £109bn in the past year alone.

Oxford Economics identified three barriers that set the UK apart from higher-investing economies: the burden and design of business taxation; the costs of delivering new capacity, particularly planning, energy and construction labour; and policy unpredictability. “When businesses do find a way to invest, they pay an ‘unpredictability premium’, incurring the cost of adapting to new policies brought in by different governments,” the report added. Innes McFee, chief executive of Oxford Economics, said the UK has been stuck in a low-growth rut since the late-2000s financial crisis, and that this has become the country’s defining economic problem.

Open letter to Chancellor John Healey on business rates and investment

The findings prompted an open letter to the Chancellor, John Healey, sent on 8 September ahead of the Budget on 28 October. As reported by Jamie Young of Business Matters, the signatories include the chief executives of Getlink, London Gatwick, Manchester Airports Group, Eurostar, London Stancras Highspeed and the Global Infrastructure Investor Association. The companies say annual bills for infrastructure operations are doubling or tripling under the new valuation regime introduced by the Valuation Office Agency, whose 2026 revaluation took effect on 1 April.

Getlink froze its planned UK rail investment in November after the agency proposed almost tripling Eurotunnel’s rates bill from £22m to £65m by 2028, while Gatwick has warned that a potential 300 per cent rise in its own bill could jeopardise its second runway. Yann Leriche, chief executive of Getlink, said: “The latest valuation cycle has seen Eurotunnel’s rateable value nearly triple, despite no change in the scale or nature of the infrastructure, nor its revenues. Such major and unpredictable increases in business rates are detrimental to investment and growth.”

“We deliver or fund the infrastructure that keeps Britain moving and connects it with the world,” the companies wrote to the Chancellor. “But, as asset-heavy, capital-intensive industries, we cannot support that mission if our ability to invest is impacted by disproportionate and unpredictable commercial property taxes.” The letter said the country’s approach to business rates was “not fit for purpose, directly undermining a desire for investment-led growth”. It continued: “The government message to business has been clear: if a company invests in the very infrastructure which the UK needs to drive productivity and growth, it will face disproportionately higher taxes. As a result, the story has been the same for a quarter of a century, lagging significantly behind our supposed peers on investment, and our productivity, growth and living standards suffering as a result.” The letter added: “A fair, reformed business rates system for infrastructure would signal an end to outsized taxation on investment and put the country on a path to growth.”

How big is the UK investment gap and who is affected?

The report found that households would have £1,540 more real disposable income a year by 2040 if the UK recovered its business investment shortfall against the other G7 countries. Public sector investment is set to run at about 2.6 per cent of GDP over this parliament, its highest level in more than 40 years, the study said, but it concluded that public spending alone could not close the gap:

“A public pipeline, however ambitious, will deliver less than intended if the environment facing private capital remains discouraging.”

The signatories’ concerns sit alongside broader infrastructure debates. Chancellor John Healey has acknowledged that the UK has had one of the lowest rates of investment in the G7 “for the last decade and a half”, while the Treasury has moved to lower the discount rate used to appraise public infrastructure spending from 3.5% to 3% to give long-term projects a fairer hearing. At the same time, the Government has indicated support for Heathrow expansion, with the Chancellor saying the Government has “given the go-ahead” to a proposal for a third runway.

What next for UK infrastructure investment before the Budget?

The letter from MAG and other infrastructure leaders arrives ahead of the 28 October Budget, when the Chancellor is expected to set out further detail on growth and investment. Business groups, including the British Chambers of Commerce, are calling on the Chancellor to use the Budget to cut the cost of doing business, boost confidence and create conditions for firms to invest, hire and grow. The Global Infrastructure Investor Association has also urged the Government to put its infrastructure strategy into action to attract long-term international investment for net zero and transport modernisation.

Background to the UK investment gap debate

The UK’s investment gap has been a recurring theme in economic policy for more than two decades, with successive governments promising to lift capital spending and improve planning and delivery. The Oxford Economics report frames the issue around an “unpredictability premium”, arguing that frequent policy shifts and tax changes raise the cost of capital for long-lived assets such as airports, rail links and energy networks. The 2026 business rates revaluation has sharpened the debate, with asset-heavy operators reporting sharp increases in bills that they say are not matched by revenue growth. At the same time, the Treasury has signalled a more investment-friendly approach to appraisal, lowering the discount rate to better reflect long-term benefits, and highlighting a £725bn infrastructure pipeline across transport, water, energy and defence.

Prediction: How this development could affect UK businesses and investors

If the Chancellor responds to the letter from MAG and other infrastructure investors with targeted business rates reform and clearer, more stable policy signals, the immediate effect would likely be to reduce the “unpredictability premium” that deters long-term capital. For UK businesses, particularly in transport, aviation and related supply chains, that could mean more viable expansion plans, such as runway projects at Gatwick and rail upgrades linked to Getlink and Eurostar. For investors, including pension funds and infrastructure funds, a more predictable tax and planning regime would improve risk-adjusted returns and could help channel more of the £725bn pipeline into shovel-ready schemes. Conversely, if the Budget does not address business rates or policy consistency, the report’s authors warn that private capital may remain cautious, limiting the impact of public investment and prolonging the UK’s relative underperformance against OECD peers.