New strategic partnerships will leverage contributions from organisations like the Local Government Pension Scheme, writes the managing director, local authority advisory & lending, at the National Wealth Fund.
Lorna Pimlott will be speaking about ‘Investing in the UK to boost economic growth’ at the LGC Investment Seminar in Carden Park on 27-28 March. See the full programme here. Email Kieran.McDougall@emap.com to join the waiting list to attend.
Lorna Pimlott, managing director, local authority advisory & lending, at the National Wealth Fund
Driving growth isn’t easy. It needs to be a team endeavour, and we need local leaders to play a pivotal role in delivering it across the United Kingdom. Mayors and combined authorities are central to this mission; their insights and knowledge ensure that public and private investment matches local requirements and drives long-term sustainable growth.
But there is a problem that we need to address.
Authorities across the UK are facing a number of barriers to create investible, deliverable projects which generate lasting impact. Whether it’s resourcing constraints, the expertise to create innovative, new funding models, or knowing how best to maximise the value of partnerships with the private sector, it’s crucial we work together with our local growth champions to overcome these challenges.
Key to unlocking regional growth is ensuring that local authorities have access to investment expertise to develop an investible pipeline. These pipelines also need to be supported by low-cost, flexible financing that can suit the needs of individual projects and make them more attractive to private finance. In the end, while local leaders have the knowledge and vision for their communities, private investment is needed to drive forward projects and make them a reality.
National Wealth Fund’s role
The government has rightly recognised the role combined authorities will have in realising its mission to drive economic growth across the UK, by asking them to produce bespoke local growth plans. Where, then, does the National Wealth Fund (NWF) fit in?
To put it plainly, we are here to solve problems. And that means helping authorities hone their ambitious plans and structure commercial deals that deliver local impact. With both private markets and public sector expertise, our organisation is uniquely placed to offer this strategic support. In fact, the NWF has already engaged in over 50 advisory projects with local authorities across the UK, addressing financial challenges and facilitating economic development, and has committed approximately £750m in low-cost financing.
We will design a tailored offer addressing their unique requirements
But we are ready to take this one step further.
Just last month, the government announced that the NWF would be trialling new strategic partnerships with four combined authorities, starting with Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands and Glasgow City Region. The aim? Further develop their investment pipelines and support their ability to undertake ambitious projects with confidence. In the coming months we will be growing our team to deliver on this commitment alongside our ongoing local authority lending and advisory work.
In practice, this means cross-functional support from across both our local authority and private banking teams to deliver bespoke solutions to help them go further and faster in delivering local growth plans, while leveraging contributions from the private sector and organisations such as the Office for Investment or the Local Government Pension Scheme. Working in collaboration with these regions, we will design a tailored offer addressing their unique requirements through enhanced commercial and financial support.
If we get this right, the success of these new partnerships will be judged by very real outcomes, through the delivery of ambitious infrastructure projects that will ultimately help authorities deliver on their net zero and sustainable growth ambitions.
Lorna Pimlott, managing director, local authority advisory & lending, National Wealth Fund
Lorna Pimlott will be speaking about ‘Investing in the UK to boost economic growth’ at the LGC Investment Seminar in Carden Park on 27-28 March. See the full programme here. Email Kieran.McDougall@emap.com to join the waiting list to attend.