Green Investment Bank

David Nuttall Excerpts

Wednesday 1st February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

Let me start by congratulating the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Tony Lloyd) on securing this important debate, which gives hon. Members an opportunity to extol Manchester’s virtues as the ideal home for the new green investment bank. This is not about whether I think it is a good idea to have a green investment bank. What matters is that there is broad consensus across the parties and across all sectors in Greater Manchester that it is the best place to have the bank. There are many good reasons why it should be in Manchester—so many that we could fill a whole day’s debate with reasons—but I want to concentrate on five key areas that are crucial to this decision.

First, locating the bank in Manchester would provide taxpayers with excellent value for money because the cost of locating it there would be far less than putting it in London. Of course, it would also help to bridge the north-south divide. Secondly, there is excellent office accommodation available and waiting in Manchester, ready for use by the bank. Thirdly, as the hon. Member for Manchester Central has mentioned, we have excellent transport links. Even with the existing rail link it is just over two hours to London, but that time will be slashed with the advent of HS2. Fourthly, it is important that the staff of the bank have experience of handling transactions of this nature, and there are people with that experience, as I shall demonstrate in a moment.

Fifthly, there must be a thriving professional and financial sector. Greater Manchester has the largest number of firms in the financial and professional sector outside London and the largest legal, accounting and management consultancy sectors. The Manchester city region employs more than 50,000 people across the banking, finance and insurance sectors, and those with specialist skills are available in project finance, structured finance, and advisory and investment management. More than 60 banks are already based in Manchester, which is home to the largest United Kingdom accountancy sector outside London, and is the largest centre of mid-tier private equity in Europe.

It is not good enough just to have the staff—they must also be experienced in the sort of deals that the bank will be required to carry out. In 2011, Manchester professionals in this sector conducted 620 corporate finance deals, which was an increase of 2% on the 2009 total in the north-west. There is also great experience of working in partnership across the public and private sectors, which will be of tremendous value to the green investment bank. In conclusion, I note that the Minister has been listening most attentively and although I do not expect a definite yes this evening, I trust that he will examine Manchester’s bid most carefully and will view it favourably.