![\"Venkat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Venkat.jpeg\")
\t\tBarclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan (Photo by Vernon Yuen via Getty)\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 02 June 2026 11:44 am\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tBarclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan (Photo by Vernon Yuen via Getty)\t<\/p>\n
Barclays has laid bare the investment<\/a> barriers facing the UK in a new report that states the nation has \u201clost control of its international narrative\u201d leading to an impact on foreign capital.<\/p>\n The banking giant has called for a drastic shake-up of how the UK attracts international capital, following its share narrowing to seven per cent in 2025 from 8.6 per cent just a decade prior.<\/p>\n The report notes whilst the UK hosted over \u00a312 trillion in foreign capital<\/a> in 2025 \u2013 second only to the US \u2013 this figure would today be \u00a32.5 trillion higher if it had maintained its previous share.<\/p>\n The bank\u2019s chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan<\/a> \u2013 known as Venkat \u2013 said: \u201cWe must now fight more assertively for our place in an increasingly competitive world\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cPredictable policy, regulatory and business environment boosts investor confidence, underpinned with a clearer story on our advantages as a home for global capital flows.\u201d<\/p>\n The report specifically points to the UK being unable to inspire long-term confidence as foreign firms operating in the UK secure record profits but opt not to reinvest. It attributes this to \u201creduced desire to invest for growth\u201d to \u201ceconomic uncertainty rather than a loss of underlying competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n It adds: \u201cNarratives play a pivotal role in shaping foreign investment intentions, and there have been occasions in the recent past when the UK has lost control of its international narrative, to the detriment of foreign investment.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\t\u2018Inflection point\u2019: Challenger banks loan growth halved in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \tBarclays: \u2018Capital no longer arrives by default\u2019<\/p>\n The blue-chip lender set out four central policy shifts, where it states the UK can build an investment-led growth mode. These include providing greater policy certainty and adopting a more targeted approach across investor types. <\/p>\n It also calls for the UK to broaden its strategy beyond foreign direct investment, which it \u201ctoo narrowly\u201d focuses on. The report highlights a need for greater focus on Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), which makes up around 80 per cent of the UK\u2019s foreign capital at \u00a34.1 trillion and cross-border deposits at \u00a35.7 trillion.<\/p>\n The report warns that in the current economic climate \u201ccapital no longer arrives by default\u201d.<\/p>\n