National and Regional Operations

National and Regional Operations

• The National Investment Bank (NIB) will allocate annual resources to regional branches with the aim of leveraging local opportunities and addressing infrastructure investment disparities between the South East of England and the rest of the UK.
• The NIB will consist of a head office located outside London, with possible locations including Sheffield, Birmingham, or Leeds, and 12 regional development banks located in each of the nine regions of England, plus Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Regional Development Banks

• The regional offices will establish relationships with private and public local banking institutions, such as digital banks and challenger banks, as rapidly as possible.
• The main advantage of regional offices is the ability to take advantage of local networks and knowledge, which is unlikely to be feasible for a centralised institution.
• Regional branch funding will be allocated centrally, with consideration given to the local opportunities and disparities in each region.

Aims of the National Investment Bank

• The NIB and its regional development banks aim to provide funding on a sufficient scale to meet the needs and potential of the UK's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• The NIB will transform the operation of the UK's financial system through the creation of new institutions accountable to the public and wider social goals, in a sustainable, regionally-balanced, and equitable way.

Industrial Strategy and Economic Policy

• The NIB and its regional development banks are part of a broader ambition to permanently reshape the British economy, making it fairer, more democratic, less wasteful of resources, and able to meet the challenges and opportunities of Brexit.
• The NIB will work in the context of a long-term industrial strategy and economic policy intended to support innovation in productive organisations and address the failure of the UK banking sector to provide longer-term loan funding for SMEs.

Implementation

• A small Steering Board of non-executives who understand and are committed to the goals of the NIB will be set up to oversee the initial set-up and culture of the NIB.
• The NIB launch team will require further research and discussion to determine the best approach to implementation.

This quiz is about the allocation of annual resources of regional branches in support of industrial and economic policy objectives.