Invest Glasgow
Inward Investment Case Studies
Key FDI Projects
Examples of recent FDI projects from global businesses who have chosen to invest in and locate to Glasgow can be found below.
Halon Entertainment (USA)
In March 2025, Halon, who work on globally recognised film, gaming and television productions, announced their £28million investment in a new studio in the city, which will create up to 250 new jobs. Halon work on film franchises such as Mission: Impossible and Planet of the Apes, broadcast series The Mandalorian and games including Fortnite.
The Los Angeles-based company specialises in animation and visualisation technology and their investment will see the creation of a new, state of the art, studio in Glasgow. They were attracted to Glasgow by its computer graphics, animation, and digital technology expertise; its thriving creative and digital economy; strong support from Invest Glasgow and Scottish Enterprise; and access to local production facilities, training programmes, and screen industry networks.
"With production happening across the globe, expanding our full-service studios on both sides of the Atlantic allows us to better support our clients with world-class services and top-tier talent, no matter where projects take them.”
"Our new Scotland studio strengthens our ability to collaborate seamlessly across time zones and deliver exceptional work to even more productions worldwide."
- Chris Ferriter, President, Halon Entertainment
Estimated Investment
£27.62 million
New Jobs Created
Type
New
Sector
Creative Economy (Film/Animation)
The Social Hub (Netherlands)
Netherlands-based hotel chain The Social Hub has opened a new hotel in Glasgow. The new hotel represents an investment of £90m and has created 80 jobs. The Social Hub, which rebranded from The Student Hotel in 2022 has evolved into a hybrid hospitality brand, integrating hotel services, co-working spaces, and community events under one roof. The Social Hub is a Certified B Corporation, demonstrating its commitment to high social and environmental performance standards.
The “hybrid hospitality concept” is aimed at business travellers, students and tourists, with its properties offering a mixture of hotel rooms, student accommodation and extended-stay rooms. Along with a gym, restaurant, and bar – which includes one of the city’s largest rooftop bars – it also features 494 rooms, co-working space with capacity for 222 people daily, 20 private offices, with meeting and event spaces as well as an auditorium.
“I am so proud to be launching The Social Hub in the country I grew up in and where I began my professional career, getting hands-on experience and inspiring a business model that evolved into what is now The Social Hub. As pioneers in the hybrid hospitality industry, I am excited to be back home and to see the impact our Glasgow Hub will bring to the community through our spaces and experiences, ones that blur the boundaries of traditional hospitality offerings through our relentless ambition to create a better society, together with all those who walk through our doors.”
-Charlie MacGregor, CEO & Founder, The Social Hub
Estimated Investment
£86 million
New Jobs Created
Type
New
Sector
Hospitality
HYIMPULSE TECHNOLOGIES (GERMANY)
In July 2024, German space startup HyImpulse announced its plans to invest up to £42m in the UK over the next 3 years, with an initial £14.48m investment to create 70 jobs at a new Glasgow engineering office and to develop the company’s launch capabilities. The company develops dedicated sub-orbital and orbital launch services using hybrid propulsion-based launch vehicles. The company was founded in March 2018 and is based in Neuenstadt am Kocher, Germany. £8.5m of UK Government funding will go towards HyImpulse for its first satellite launch from the Scottish Space Port, SaxaVord, Shetland in late 2024.
Estimated Investment
£14.48 million
New Jobs Created
Type
New
Sector
Space & Satellite Technology
Halo Invest (Australia)
In August 2024, Australian FinTech firm Halo Technologies announced its plans to launch a new operations and development centre in Glasgow and create over 60 new jobs in the city. Halo offers a global equities research and trading platform, providing institutional-level market insights and analytical tools to everyday investors.
The Glasgow project, valued at £8m, received £800k in support from Scottish Enterprise. It is anticipated that the 64 new jobs will be created within a two-year period.
“We had the opportunity to locate anywhere in the UK, but Glasgow demonstrated itself as the ideal city for us to base ourselves with its well-established mix of financial services and fintech talent. HALO Invest will be Glasgow’s first purpose-built Investment Platform and we know that just being here will significantly increase our chances of success.”
- Douglas Boyce, CEO, HALO Invest
