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Bid submitted for green bank
UP to 70 jobs could be created if a bid to locate the headquarters of a new £3 billion eco-finance initiative in Peterborough proves successful.
Opportunity Peterborough has this week submitted a bid to become the home of the Government’s Green Investment Bank.
If it gets the green light, the bank would be responsible for funding enterprises that promote sustainable growth across the country.
Ministers are still deciding where it will be located and Peterborough’s bid is one of 32 from UK cities including London, Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool.
While competition is fierce, Opportunity Peterborough remains confident that the city has the strengths to meet the requirements of the bank.
Neil Darwin, director of economic development at Opportunity Peterborough, said: “The Government wants to establish the bank in a city with a strong financial sector and an innovative environmental sector.
“On both issues Peterborough performs exceptionally well. We face competition from a number of other cities, many of the country’s biggest, but with our sector strengths, strategic location and city-wide enthusiasm, we can offer a cost-effective solution.”
The new headquarters, which would bring 70 jobs to the city, will invest £3 billion between 2012 and 2015 to accelerate the UK’s transition to a green economy.
The Government has signalled that providing “green investment funds” is a clear priority and potentially a key pillar of the economic recovery.
The Green Investment Bank will be the world’s first public bank dedicated to the green economy.
The bank will be set up with public money to help firms fund renewable energy schemes, with estimates that an extra £15 billion of private investment could be generated for major projects beyond 2015.
It would invest in schemes in areas such as offshore wind power which the private sector cannot adequately finance.
Early priorities are likely to include projects involving offshore wind power, waste recycling and industrial energy efficiency.
Opportunity Peterborough submitted a bid with strong support from the city’s two MPs, Stewart Jackson and Shailesh Vara, as well as Peterborough City Council, Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Cambridgeshire and Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership.
Strong endorsement was also received from Peterborough and Cambridgeshire’s largest businesses and universities.
Mr Jackson put forward the city’s green credentials in a Parliamentary debate on the initiative in September last year.
Mr Jackson said: “Peterborough is ambitious and growing, with a workforce to match.
“The city is actively exploring pioneering public-private partnerships to remove the burden from the taxpayer without slowing progress in the city.
“Innovation in all areas of environmental, financial, economic and social capital is matched by understanding infrastructure needs and opportunities.”
MP for North-West Cambridgeshire Shailesh Vara has also backed the push for Peterborough to be home to the bank.
He said: “I think it would be terrific for the local area if we were selected to host the bank.
“We have all the necessary criteria and I very much hope the decision recognises that.”
John Bridge, the chief executive of Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, said: “We strongly believe Peterborough would be a natural home for the bank.
“It has got those credentials and it is very positive to see support from our MPs.”
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Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 2 comments to this article
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DonB
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 01:39 PMCodswallop.
SokeBoy
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:41 PMIf our city had a strong community banking sector, encompassing schemes such as a city-based credit union, local currency and community timebanking scheme then the bid for this green bank would be even stronger. But some city leaders think it is enough to merely talk about 'innovation'. They fail to understand the importance of providing proper support and guidance for the innovators they seek. Because they fail to support potential innovators they lose the opportunity to strengthen a perfectly laudable policy aim such as this. City leaders have a clear and obvious inability to think in a holistic and truly joined-up fashion about these issues. The ultimate result of this very poor intellectual leadership is the lack of a coherent philosophy and cogent strategy for our Environment Capital aspiration.
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