4 March 2026
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Home » News » Greater Essex at UKREiiF: Open for investment and ready for the extraordinary
Greater Essex is set to take to the stage at UKREiiF, the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum, this May with its own pavilion and a series of high-profile events which will put the region firmly on the map as one the UK’s top growth hotspots.
Key leaders from across Greater Essex’s public and private sectors are collaborating to deliver a three-day programme to showcase the region’s powerful economy, investor-ready projects and dynamic business landscape.
UKREiiF has established itself as the UK’s premier real estate conference. It aims to connect people, places and businesses to drive sustainable, inclusive and transformative investment and regeneration.
Greater Essex is one of the UK’s most powerful economic engines, with the scale and momentum to create 50,000 new jobs by 2030 and add £8 billion a year to regional output- delivering nationally significant gains in productivity, resilience and global competitiveness.
The sixth-fastest growing economy, Greater Essex is a proven investment hub, underpinned by exceptional physical and digital connectivity. It is uniquely positioned at the heart of the UK’s growth corridor, with two international airports – London Stansted and London Southend – and two Freeports: Thames Freeport, incorporating DP World London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham, and Freeport East, encompassing Felixstowe and Harwich. Together with the Lower Thames Crossing, these strategic assets have already secured over £11 billion of committed investment, reinforcing Greater Essex’s role as a gateway for trade, logistics and innovation.
Crucially, the region is not standing still. £1.1 billion of expansion works at London Stansted Airport, a £1 billion investment programme at DP World, and 1,700 acres of development-ready land at Thames Freeport signal a clear trajectory of sustained, long-term growth. These projects are accelerating delivery at pace and providing investors with certainty, scale and speed to market.
It hosts the largest garden community programme in the UK, with 24,000 new homes in the pipeline, ensuring that growth is matched with housing, skills and liveability. Priority sectors include clean energy, digital and AI, life sciences and MedTech, advanced manufacturing, construction, and the creative industries – sectors that directly align with national industrial strategy and future growth priorities.
Yet Greater Essex’s value extends well beyond its borders. Located between the City of London’s global financial centre and Cambridge’s world-leading innovation ecosystem, the region provides what both lack at scale: space to grow, a skilled and diverse workforce, world-class connectivity, and a commercially attractive operating environment. As a result, Greater Essex acts as the critical enabler that allows businesses to start, scale and stay in the UK.
This role is most evident in its leadership in AI and digital infrastructure. As a national hotspot for data centre development, Greater Essex is attracting global players including Fujitsu, Google, Nscale and Kao Data. Kao Data is developing the UK’s largest data centre campus, powered by dedicated renewable energy from a new solar farm, placing Greater Essex at the forefront of secure, sustainable computing infrastructure essential to the UK’s AI ambitions.
Greater Essex is ready to deliver. With scale, momentum and strategic alignment already in place, targeted investment and partnership can unlock growth that benefits not just the region, but the UK economy as a whole.
Read more about Greater Essex Day at UKREiiF last year
