International investors descend on London as Labour tries to woo new business to Britain

LONDON — The U.K. Labour government is hoping to woo foreign capital to the country on Monday, as it hosts its inaugural International Investment Summit in London.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves and Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds will lead the one-day event at London's Guildhall, which is expected to be attended by around 200 executives from the U.K. and overseas.

Former Google chair Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, BlackRock chief Larry Fink and GSK CEO Emma Walmsley are among the named guests. Newly appointed Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson, co-founder of British cybersecurity firm Darktrace, will also be on hand to promote the U.K. as a place to do business.

During the event, the government is set to announce an easing of regulations and billions of pounds worth of investment deals in artificial intelligence, life sciences and infrastructure, as Starmer hails "a great moment to back Britain."

"We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment and we will make sure that every regulator in this country take growth as seriously as this room does," Starmer will tell delegates.

"We have a golden opportunity to use our mandate, to end chop and change, policy churn and sticking plasters that make it so hard for investors to assess the value of any proposition," he will add.

Would-be attendees and observers expressed frustration to CNBC, however, about the lack of information surrounding the summit, with details on location and timing withheld until Thursday. Some said ahead of time that they would not be attending, while others were still reportedly weighing whether or not to fly over, as of late last week.

"The uncertainty of what's happening is undermining the event," Dr.