UK Development Bank

There is much more we can do to fulfill the ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to grow a business.

One specific idea I pursued as SoS for BEIS was the creation of a UK Development Bank.  The UK is the only country in the G7 that does not already have a development bank, and in leaving the EU we will no longer be a part of the European Investment Bank.  The purpose of a UKDB is to support:

• start-ups and ‘scale ups’, particularly for women and young entrepreneurs who often find it hard to access funding

• green finance for households and businesses

• building new infrastructure 

• financing the roll out of new innovation across the UK (the ‘Development’ aspect of Research and Development)

A UKG supported/owned development bank will be particularly important as we build an economy fit for the extraordinary opportunities that lie ahead. The British Business Bank would be a good platform to build from, as it has considerable expertise already in making finance markets work better for small businesses in the UK.