GSK invests £400m to move research centre to Cambridge as Burnham praises ‘vote of confidence’ in UK - as it happened

The British pharmaceutical company GSK has announced a substantial £400 million investment into UK life sciences over the next three years, including the establishment of a new research and development facility in Cambridge. This investment is part of a larger £1.9 billion cost-cutting programme aimed at accelerating drug discovery under the company's new leadership. On Tuesday, GSK confirmed plans to move over 1,000 scientists to the new Cambridge biomedical campus site. The company will close its R&D base in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, by 2029, while simultaneously upgrading its laboratories in Ware and relocating some staff there.

In financial markets, a sell-off in artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks intensified, pushing South Korea’s stock market to its lowest level in three months. Concerns over the significant borrowing by AI companies to fund datacentre expansion led investors to divest from chip manufacturers. South Korean semiconductor giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both experienced declines exceeding 10%, contributing to an 11.5% fall in the Kospi index. US chip stocks, including Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, also extended their recent losses, dropping by more than 4% as Wall Street opened.

Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever, the company behind brands such as Marmite and Dove, has warned of further price increases in the coming months. The Anglo-Dutch firm stated on Tuesday that it intends to recoup its rising operational costs. Although the pace of price hikes slowed in the second quarter due to temporary factors like World Cup-related discounts, Unilever anticipates an acceleration in underlying price growth during the second half of the year as commodity price increases fully impact the market.

Separately, Barclays revealed a 30% increase in its half-year bonus pool, which now stands at £1.3 billion, up from £1 billion last year. This figure, disclosed in corporate filings on Tuesday, follows a period of enhanced profits for the bank. The news has led to calls for a potential tax increase on UK banks. The bonus pot is expected to continue accumulating throughout the year, with final compensation decisions for high-performing bankers to be made by February next year.