Illinois e-News Release

CHICAGO — Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois delegation continued their mission to the United Kingdom and announced the intent to pursue a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK to advance trade and economic development goals.

The Governor and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch met with Nigel Huddleston, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade to announce the intent to pursue a MoU between the UK and Illinois. The United Kingdom is Illinois’ top investor by employment, employing over 90,000 Illinoisans. Bilateral trade between the two exceeded $5 billion in the past year.

During this meeting, the Governor, Speaker Welch, and Minister Huddleston began laying the groundwork for the establishment of a bilateral United Kingdom and Illinois MoU which would advance manufacturing in energy, technology and life science sectors in both trade and investment. Both the Governor and Minister Huddleston are committed to boosting trade and investment in one another’s economies.

This same day, the Governor and Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Kristin Richards met with Tate & Lyle Executive Vice President Rowan Adams to discuss the company’s continued investment in Illinois. As of March 2023, the company has invested over $45 million, retained 300 jobs throughout Illinois, and has created an additional 122 jobs since 2011. The Governor and Director met with the group to offer support as the company continues to grow in Illinois.

The Governor and Speaker Welch later stopped by the Campari Group and met with Luca Garavoglia, Chairman of the one of the largest beverage companies in the world, the Campari Group. The Campari Group hosted an event for delegation members representing Illinois and Chicago’s business and hospitality communities. The Governor thanked the company for their existing investments in Illinois and encouraged them to further invest in the state.

Simultaneously, the Governor’s Chief of Staff Anne Caprara led several manufacturing and energy company delegates on a visit to the Royal Auto Club to meet with UK-based auto industry companies and discuss the global transition to electric vehicles, technology, and advanced manufacturing.

Following the Campari Group visit, the Governor and Speaker Welch participated in a roundtable discussion at the University of Chicago Booth London campus centered on quantum technology and innovation. A vibrant discussion amongst several UK-based quantum companies, Illinois-based quantum companies, Illinois higher education leaders, and the Chicago Quantum Exchange, the group maintained that Illinois is fostering an environment to accelerate research and innovation and highlighted potential opportunities for investment.

Leading the nation’s quantum revolution, Illinois is home to more National Quantum Science Information centers than any other state- 30% of investments so far under the National Quantum Initiative Act have come to Illinois. Governor Pritzker’s administration is ensuring the quantum future starts in Illinois by investing $200M in the Chicago Quantum Exchange. Infleqtion, the world's quantum information company, was one of the delegation members at this meeting and just recently announced their successful bid for the Quantum End-to-end Compilation for Combinatorial Optimisation (QECCO) project through Innovate UK.

Later, the Governor, joined by Speaker Welch and Loop Capital CEO Jim Reynolds, met with the Lord Mayor, Mr. Nicholas Stephen Leland Lyons. During this meeting, the Governor discussed Illinois’ robust financial services and fintech sector collaboration between Illinois and the United Kingdom.

Tomorrow’s trade mission continues with discussions and activities focused on clean energy and the Governor’s climate change goals.