AI industrial park in North Ayrshire to bring £15bn investment and 'substantial' employment

North Ayrshire has been selected as the site of a landmark AI industrial park, backed by investment that could total £15bn and generate a significant number of jobs.

UK-based firm AI Pathfinder will establish its first Scottish park at the i3 site on the outskirts of Irvine in 2026, with the aim of transforming it into one of the “largest AI infrastructure hubs in Europe”.

Spending an initial £385m, the 1GW industrial site will begin with the deployment of up to 6,400 graphics processing units (GPUs).

The project, which is expected to generate substantial employment through construction, skilled roles, and supply chain opportunities, has been welcomed by North Ayrshire Council.

‘Transformational moment’

Councillor Tony Gurney, cabinet member for green environment and economy, said the scale of investment would be “transformational for our young people and residents”.

“This is a hugely significant announcement and we recognise the enormous potential this offers our area, placing it at the vanguard of the AI revolution,” he said.

“Our vision for Ayrshire is to build wealth for everyone by creating opportunities for those who want to live, work, learn and invest in the region.

“These plans will help transform that vision into reality, aligning with the ambitions of our Ayrshire Regional Economic Strategy and the £251m Ayrshire Growth Deal.”

Councillor Gurney also highlighted Ayrshire’s growing reputation in digital skills and smart manufacturing, citing the Digital Process Manufacturing Centre in Irvine and the region’s role as a testbed for 5G innovation.

He said that collaborations with the University of the West of Scotland, Ayrshire College and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland are already supporting the development of AI and data science capabilities.

“We are already forging a name for ourselves as leaders in smart manufacturing and digital skills”, he added.

“At the heart of this is our Ayrshire Digital Economy Ecosystem which, through increased collaboration and stakeholder engagement, is driving innovation, upskilling businesses and supporting further investment into the region.

“The recent Ayrshire Growth Deal investment in the Digital Process Manufacturing Centre based in Irvine is a fantastic example of how we are transforming the region’s industrial landscape.

“We work together and collaborate regionally in Ayrshire, with the common purpose of building an inclusive wellbeing economy founded on our pioneering Community Wealth Building approach.

“We look forward to extending this partnership as the project progresses with AI Pathfinder.”

AI Pathfinder is a subsidiary of Salamanca, a London-based property development companyled by entrepreneur Martin Bellamy.

It intends to build infrastructure for other companies to use, similar to the internet cloud.

The North Ayrshire investment forms part of the company’s broader mission to deliver up to 2GW of sovereign AI supercomputing capacity across the UK.

The company confirmed its first £3.4bn deployment will be in Northamptonshire later this year, with the Irvine site to follow in 2026.