British Business Bank responds to its new strategic mandate to drive UK growth
At today’s Regional Investment Summit, the secretary of state for business and trade set out his mandate for the British Business Bank in a new Statement of Strategic Priorities.
The Statement gives the Bank a clear direction for the next five years and confirms its critical role in supporting the government’s growth mission by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale, and stay in the UK.
Building on the Bank’s strong track record since 2014 and the Spending Review announcement of an increase in its total financial capacity to £25.6bn, the Statement tasks the Bank with delivering a step change in the availability of finance for smaller businesses across the UK to match the scale of the government’s growth ambitions.
The four priorities are:
1. Support our most promising businesses in the Industrial Strategy priority sectors to scale and stay here
2. Make finance markets work better for smaller businesses
3. Unlock the potential in people and places
4. Mobilise institutional capital at scale
Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank said: “We welcome the Business Secretary’s Statement today and look forward to delivering against the Bank’s new mandate and strategic priorities. Building on the Bank’s scale, networks, and track record, we will mobilise institutional capital at scale by unlocking billions of pounds of domestic investment so the UK can capture the full commercial potential of its world class breakthrough technology companies.
“The Bank will continue to increase the availability and diversity of finance for smaller businesses across the UK’s Nations and regions, and in addition we will support our most promising scale up businesses in the eight growth-driving sectors of the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy.”
The Bank will publish its Five-year Strategic Plan setting out how it will deliver on the Statement of Strategic Priorities in the coming weeks.