Manchester bids for Green Investment Bank
GREATER Manchester’s public sector leaders are to submit a bid to house the Government’s proposed £3bn Green Investment Bank in the city.
Members of Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority are set to approve the city’s bid at a meeting next Friday, meaning the city will compete with Leeds, London, Bristol and Edinburgh as the proposed home of the new instituion.
An advisorty board led by Sir Alistair Montague is currently in the process of setting up the bank ahead of its launch in April next year. The bank will initially procide mezzanine finance to green technology schemes directly from government funds ahead of it raising its own funds by April 2015.
A report to the authority by inward investment agency said there would be “substantial” benefits to the city if the bank were to set up shop in the city.
“It is expected that such an investment would lead to an increased job opportunities, specifically in the financial and professional services sector as businesses associated with the sector are attracted to locate in close proximity to the bank.
“Similarly, it will generate additional growth through synergies with other institutions associated with the sector, including banks and utility companies,” the report states.
It also puts forward the city’s case as a suitable home for the bank, stating that the city already has plenty of investment banking and fund accounting expertise through firms such as Rothschild, Co-operative Financial Services, RBS Global Banking and BNY Mellon, as well as a strong corporate finance community with an expertise in the type of mid-market deals in which the bank is likely to invest.
“The Manchester City Region is the economic centre of the north of England with a large investment banking community and the largest concentration of financial services industries outside of London, offering the GIB an easily accessible talent pool to draw on,” it states.
Its pitch to government is also likely to include factors such as lower commercial property and staff costs when compared with London, as well as the intrinsic green technology expertise through organisations such as Siemens, SKM and the Viridor/Laing consortium running the £3bn Greater Manchester Waste private finance initiative.
John Ashcroft, chief executive of Pro.Manchester, told TheBusinessDesk.com that Manchester is “well-placed to meet the objectives set by government in this area”.
“Pro.manchester is a strong advocate of the GIB project and location in the city.
“Our own energy and low carbon group has done some great work already in this area and I was pleased to attend a recent dinner hosted by Cobbetts to examine ways in which we could accelerate progress.”
