Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the mandate is for the British Business Bank's direct investment programme in scale-up companies.

The British Business Bank’s mandate for making direct equity investments in scale-up companies is set out in the Statement of Strategic Priorities issued to the Bank by the Secretary of State and the Chancellor. This was published on 21 October 2025.

At the 2025 Spending Review, the BBB was entrusted with an additional £4 billion of capital with the goal of accelerating investment into the Industrial Strategy priority sectors.

The strategic mandate requires the Bank to “help anchor strategically significant companies in the UK, including through use of the bank’s direct investment capabilities to target priority sectors and technologies.”