Partner Article

Business bank advisory group announced

A business bank advisory group has been set up by the Government, bringing together several heads of companies and finance experts.

The group will identify priorities for the business community, and will assess the best direction for the business bank to go in.

Vince Cable, Business Secretary, announced the bank in September last year, which he hoped would boost lending to British companies after more than £1bn was committed to the scheme.

Sir Peter Burt, former chief executive of the Bank of England, will chair the committee, as was announced in December.

He will be joined by five other “big hitters”, as the Department for Business Innovation and Skills called them, to decide the future of the bank.

Lucy Armstrong, chair for the CBI’s SME Council and Capital for Enterprise, and chief of the Alchemists, will be amongst the group, alongside Brendan Barber, former TUC general secretary and Caroline Green, finance director at Metalrax Group.

Stephen Welton, chief of the Business Growth Fund, will also be on the committee, and will be joined by Baroness Patience Wheatcroft, non-executive director of Fiat SpA and St James’s Place, advisory board member of Huawei and Pelham Bell Pottinger.

Sir Peter Burt commented: “The advisory group has a major task but we have been assured of support from all quarters.

“Over the past 25 or more years, no government has put enough weight behind attempts to finding a solution to the SME finance problem, but I hope that this time there will be the necessary concerted effort.

“We cannot create a business bank overnight, but BIS has sufficient powers and approvals to immediately start getting money into the SME sector and this will be a major focus at the same time as the task of advising on and laying the foundations of a long-term provider of support for the SME sector.”

Dr. Cable originally announced £1bn would be put towards the business bank, and a further £300m was released in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, to be made available over the next two years.

The Business Secretary commented: “The business bank’s advisory group, chaired by Sir Peter Burt, is a great example of the kind of modern leadership we are trying to encourage in British companies today. Half of the group are women and half of the group are directly involved in SME finance.

“The business bank is on schedule and the appointments today take it one step closer towards delivering more long-term funding for SMEs.

“The Government already has in place a range of measures to help small and medium sized businesses access lending in the short-term. But this new institution will fill a vacuum in medium to long term credit that many viable small businesses are struggling to raise to grow and create jobs.”

Details of how to secure funding from the business bank will be outlined in the 2013 budget, and European Commission discussions will soon begin to ensure the proposals are in like with state aid rules.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .