As 2025 closes, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, has put stability front and centre in a New Year message to business. The Northern Ireland Office highlights record funding, a busy pipeline of growth projects and an open invitation to investors who can turn policy into jobs and exports.

On the numbers, HM Treasury says the Executive’s settlement averages £19.3bn a year through 2029. That does two things for market planning: it shores up demand via public services and gives councils and universities confidence to co‑fund capital projects-useful if you’re mapping multi‑year build or expansion plans for 2026–2028.

Four place‑based deals anchor the investment map. The Department of Finance lists the Belfast Region City Deal, Derry City & Strabane City Deal, Mid South West Growth Deal, and Causeway Coast & Glens Growth Deal-a combined programme of around £1.3bn over 10–15 years, with more than £600m from the UK Government and over £700m from the Executive. Translation for investors: live procurement pipelines across advanced manufacturing, digital, tourism and skills.

Delivery is already visible. BRCD partners report over £1bn of activity moving from design to build, including Queen’s University’s trio of centres-the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre, Global Innovation Institute and iREACH Health-while Studio Ulster, a £72m virtual production complex at Ulster University, is part of the screen cluster now in market. The Treasury added a £310m boost in August to accelerate City/Growth Deal schemes into construction.

A second pillar arrives in 2026. The Science and Technology Secretary has earmarked at least £30m for the Belfast–Derry/Londonderry corridor via the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, with spend from April 2026 and UKRI co‑design. Expect competitive calls focused on AI, life sciences and clean tech rather than generic grants.

Trade access is the differentiator. The UK Government has allocated £16.6m to create a small‑business ‘one‑stop’ advice service and to expand InterTrade UK, aimed at helping firms exploit Northern Ireland’s ability to sell goods into both the UK internal market and the EU. Ministers then confirmed an enhanced service as part of their response to the Independent Review of the Windsor Framework.

Invest NI’s guidance is straightforward: qualifying Northern Ireland goods move to Great Britain without extra UK product rules, and NI–EU goods trade generally avoids customs declarations and tariffs; GB–NI movements use the free Trader Support Service. Invest NI sizes the addressable opportunity from dual market access at over £6 trillion. Note this is a goods advantage-services are outside scope-so design your route‑to‑market accordingly.

Case study one-zero‑emission vehicles. In 2025 Wrightbus delivered 12 hydrogen buses to WestVerkehr in Germany, with around 130 Wrightbus hydrogen vehicles expected on German roads by year‑end. Built in Ballymena and sold into the EU, it’s the sort of cross‑border revenue line dual access is set up to support.

Case study two-defence. A £1.6bn UK package to supply air‑defence missiles to Ukraine is creating 200 new jobs and supporting hundreds more at Thales in Belfast; the company has also flagged a £100m local investment and a third site. Precision engineering, optics and electronics SMEs should track 2026 framework opportunities.

Case study three-photonics and fintech. Seagate has committed £115m over five years to its Derry facility for next‑generation hard‑drive technology, deepening a nanophotonics specialism. FinTrU has expanded its Carlisle House site in Derry and now employs over 425 people in the city, underscoring continued growth in technology‑enabled financial services.

Big finance is paying attention. Reuters reports Bank of America launching operations in Belfast with up to 1,000 roles as part of a wider US investment push. On the occupier side, PwC’s Belfast office has become the firm’s largest outside London, signalling continued demand for Grade‑A city‑centre space.

Ports and creative industries round out the picture. Belfast Harbour has a £90m upgrade planned as part of a wider £300m strategy to support offshore wind and regeneration. Under BRCD, screen production capacity is growing-Studio Ulster is a flagship-and Artemis Technologies has entered the delivery phase with Red Funnel for an electric foiling ferry, with crew training in Belfast scheduled for late 2025.

Cost and talent tilt the equation. NISRA puts 2025 median full‑time earnings at £37,100 versus £39,000 UK‑wide, with Northern Ireland’s gender pay gap smaller than the UK average. The BRCD region’s population is also relatively young, with over half under 40. The trade‑off: economic inactivity remains materially above the UK rate, so hiring plans should build in training time and college partnerships.

Policy watch for 2026: London and Brussels are working toward an SPS agreement to cut agrifood checks; EU ministers authorised negotiations in November, and UK departments are signalling lower costs for exporters. If you trade meat, dairy or fresh produce, keep labelling and certification plans flexible until technical texts are final.

The wider trade backdrop has shifted too. Government press notices in 2025 trailed deals with India, the US and South Korea, alongside the EU agrifood package. For NI producers using dual access, that combination supports a more competitive pricing story into 2026-especially where component sourcing and rules‑of‑origin are sensitive.

What to do next. Register for the UK Internal Market Scheme if you bring goods into NI; book an Invest NI dual‑access workshop; speak to City/Growth Deal teams on procurement timetables; and engage early with the government’s new one‑stop service as it rolls out. That sequence keeps compliance tight and gets you into the deal flow as 2026 calls open.