Louis Taylor said: Using our market expertise and reach, we have a critical role to play in supporting smaller businesses in the eight growth-driving sectors to grow and stay in the UK.
The British Business Bank (BBB) will commit £6.6bn of new capital as part of the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy announced today.
The strategy – a ten-year plan aiming to make the UK the "best country to invest in anywhere in the world" – follows a Green Paper, Invest 2035, published last October,
As part of this, the BBB will commit £6.6bn of new capital.
A new £4bn initiative, British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital, will be invested through the Bank's existing capabilities across the eight growth-driving sectors - advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services.
It said this will crowd in a further £12bn of private capital – meaning it will deliver around £16bn of capital to invest in smaller businesses and innovation across the eight industrial strategy sectors over the next four years.
As part of the Spending Review settlement, the BBB will also be committing £2.6bn of capital to support entrepreneurs "wherever and whoever they are" to access capital, driving the growth of smaller businesses across the UK.
This follows the recent announcement at the Spending Review of the increase in the BBB's total financial capacity to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in investments to around £2.5bn each year.
Also confirmed were reforms to the BBB's governance and financial arrangements which will be implemented by the end of this financial year.
BBB chief executive Louis Taylor said: "We welcome today's announcement by the Secretary of State to deliver British Business Bank Industrial Strategy Growth Capital, as well as the reforms to the Bank's governance and financial framework. Using our market expertise and reach, we have a critical role to play in supporting smaller businesses in the eight growth-driving sectors to grow and stay in the UK.
"To deliver the government's growth mission it is also critical that our most promising entrepreneurs can access the finance they need to grow their businesses, no matter what their background or where they are located across the nations and regions of the UK.
He added: "This is a strong endorsement of the Bank's 10-year track record, market access and capabilities, including our position as the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds and the most active late-stage investor in UK life sciences and deeptech."
ABI director general Hannah Gurga commented: "Today's Industrial Strategy delivers a clear long-term growth vision, commitment to genuine partnership with business and the regulatory certainty firms need to thrive. We're pleased that financial services has been recognised as a key growth sector and look forward to working with government on the detailed sector plan.
"The expansion of the BBB's capacity and its new £6.6bn growth-capital commitment will unlock vital funding to support smaller UK businesses and drive growth."
