Liverpool City Region: NW Fund chief floats city investment bank idea
THE chief executive of the North West Fund, set up to boost SME growth in the region, is calling for the city of Liverpool to set up its own investment bank.
Cliff Maylor argues such a move would empower the city council by allowing it to to underwrite major investment and infrastructure projects to further improve the local economy.
He believes a “City of Liverpool investment Bank”, using its own assets to
attract private money, will set a marker in the sand: “When capital is in short supply you need a bit of clever thinking. There are some 315 separate business initiatives operating within the city at present.
“This needs to be consolidated into a much smaller and less confusing offering and controlled within one central point.
Click here to download our 28-page supplement on the Liverpool City Region economy , in association with Baker Tilly, Hill Dickinson, The North West Fund and Santander.
“We have a £155m programme here (through The North West Fund) and when the next round of funding for 2014-30 comes, we are keen to play a pivotal role in that and discuss the idea with the city.”
He points to the precedent already set around the time of the industrial revolution for large scale infrastructure projects of the past – such as the canals and railways – as having been almost entirely funded by private local money.
“The short and long-term outlook for savers in the region is not an attractive one and this presents an opportunity or utilising the city’s own private capital to help finance major infrastructure projects.
“A newly-created investment bank could issue its own bonds to help finance profitable long-term projects that would offer bond holders and commercial investors returns significantly above those currently on offer from the major UK banks and building societies.
“That way you are staring to use the capital owned by the people who live in the region to ensure the region prospers, without being at the behest of government and Europe.”
Liverpool-born Mr Maylor ran a number of successful businesses before taking over as chief executive of North West Business Finance, operator of the North West Fund last year.
His comments are featured in TheBusinessDesk.com’s 28-page Liverpool City Region economic report. Click here to download a copy of the PDF.
