Healey Unveils £150 Million Northern Growth Fund as Borrowing Costs Hit 18-Year High
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 6
Healey Unveils £150 Million Northern Growth Fund as Borrowing Costs Hit 18-Year High
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 6
Summary
£150 million from the British Business Bank will be directed to northern England firms, with Healey set to pitch it Monday as a way to spur growth before his first Budget on 28 October.
The fund will make investments of £5 million to £15 million in innovative, fast-growing businesses, including university spin-outs, as the government tries to use public money to draw in private capital.
Healey's push comes under pressure from rising borrowing costs and inflation risks linked to the Iran war, after UK borrowing costs reached a new 18-year high.
Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK said the plan was too small or poorly timed, while the Institute for Fiscal Studies said spreading growth to "every postcode" would be much harder in practice.
The announcement fits a broader government strategy to spread economic growth beyond London, though critics say it may do little to ease immediate worries over taxes, debt and business confidence.
As northern spin-outs chase Healey's new fund, could government intervention accidentally stifle the organic private investment it desperately aims to attract?
Can a £150 million public investment truly transform northern England's tech scene, or will weak local institutions squander the opportunity?