Green bank is going to Edinborough or London - suprise suprise
Just missed out
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d823afa2-6906-11e1-9931-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oWgom6Jf
Edinburgh chosen to host Green Bank
The UK’s Green Investment Bank, which aims to kick-start investments in low-carbon technologies, will be located in both Edinburgh and London, Vince Cable, the business secretary has announced.
The bank’s headquarters will be in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, while its main transaction team will be based in London.
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The cities beat competition from 30 other urban centres– from Leeds in the north to Torbay in the south - to host the state-owned bank which is designed to accelerate private sector investment in areas such clean energy and recycling.
Mr Cable told the Financial Times that Edinburgh had been chosen because “I wanted to make a very strong commitment to rebalancing the economy” by establishing the headquarters outside London.
He said the Scottish capital was strong in asset management and close to a lot of green industrial developments, while London would host the transaction team because it was a “unique centre of excellence” for project finance.
Over time, Mr Cable said transaction expertise could build up in Edinburgh or elsewhere.
He said the political need to shore up the union between Scotland and England did not influence the decision.
Manchester had come third in the evaluation and if it had come second “we would have been looking at Manchester”.
Asked whether the headquarters would have to move if Scotland became independent, he said that was an “unlikely and unwelcome” eventuality and would affect a number of UK institutions, such as the Glasgow-based Student Loans Company.
But Julian Smith, Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, who backed the Leeds bid, criticised the decision to base the headquarters in Scotland.
“At a time when Scots are considering their destiny, we should be retaining this sort of investment in England,” he said.
Mr Smith also said that it was “disappointing” that the North of England had missed out to London.
“I think we do need to get away from London being the default option,” he said.
Although the bank will employ only about 70 people, bidders hoped that it would lure green businesses wherever it was based.
Michael Moore, the Scottish secretary, said he was “delighted” the bank’s headquarters would be in Scotland. “The size and scale of the UK’s single energy market ensures the level of investment that will unlock Scotland’s renewables future, providing sustainable and affordable green energy across the UK,” he said.
The bank will have £3bn to lend over the next three years and, from April 2015, should be able to leverage a further £15bn.
It is expected to prioritise finance for offshore power generation, waste processing and recycling, energy from waste and non-domestic energy efficiency. It will also support the Green Deal, the government’s home insulation programme.
The bank will recruit a chairman and senior independent director in order to be able to be fully operational this autumn, subject to state aid approval from the European Union, the business department said.