Company type | State owned development bank |
---|---|
Industry | Financial services |
Founded | June 2021 |
Headquarters | Leeds, England, UK |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Owner | UK Government |
Website | www |
The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) is a British state-owned development bank. It is intended to help with the UK Government's plan to reach net-zero carbon by 2050 and to support economic growth in regional and local sectors across the United Kingdom. [1] Then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, stated that the bank would be tasked to invest in sectors such as "renewable energy, carbon capture, storage and transportation", and would provide "low-rate loans to mayors and councils to fund projects". [2] The bank is publicly owned with its sole shareholder being the Treasury Solicitor in the capacity of HM Treasury. [1] The bank was given initial capital amounting to £12bn, is able to offer up to £10bn of government guarantees, with its final capacity being £22bn. [1] [3]
The UK Infrastructure Bank was announced in the government policy paper, "National Infrastructure Strategy: fairer, faster, greener", on 25 November 2020. [4] Its founding document was published by HM Treasury on 17 June 2021. [1] In July 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a new £7.3bn National Wealth Fund to decarbonise Britain's heavy industry, which would be disbursed by the UKIB over five years. [5]
The firm's core objective is, with cooperation of private and public sector entities, "to increase infrastructure investment to help to tackle climate change and promote economic growth across the regions and nations of the United Kingdom." The firm seeks to pursue this goal with two objectives:
Six priorities were established for the operation of the firm to meet the two above objectives:
Name of Investment | Location | Investment amount | Citation |
---|---|---|---|
South Bank Quay | Teesworks, on Teesside | £107m | [6] |
Fibrus | Belfast | £220m | [7] |
Cornish Lithium | Cornwall | £24m | [8] |
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