City loses out in bid to host first green investment bank in Britain

BRISTOL'S bid to host Britain's first green investment bank has been snubbed by ministers.

Despite a strong campaign that put the city among the front-runners, it has lost out to Edinburgh and London, in a decision critics said was "unimaginative".

Bristol MPs raised suspicions of a "done deal" with Edinburgh before the public consultation had taken place.

The Scottish capital will host the bulk of the bank's operation, in a move that will lead to accusation that the government is trying to curry favour north of the border ahead of a referendum on Scottish independence.

The £3 billion green investment bank will be used to finance eco-friendly businesses. It is expected to create up to 70 immediate jobs across the two locations and trigger a surge in the local green economy.

Of the 32 towns and cities that applied, 11, including Bristol, made it past the first round. But it then finished in seventh place, after officials deemed its financial services sector to be "mainly weak".

London, which will operate a support centre for the bank, scored top marks in every category, triggering a claim of "institutional bias" from Bristol West MP Stephen Williams, who blamed civil servants who set out the criteria.

He said: "London has a huge in-built advantage. There is a certain lack of objectivity from the people who set the scoring system."

He added: "It's hugely disappointing, but it was a good team effort."

Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East, said: "Obviously it's disappointing, but I'm not particularly surprised.

"When we first started lobbying on this, the government met with Edinburgh and they wouldn't meet with Bristol. I had a feeling right from the start that they were the preferred candidate.

"The question is, if Scotland can be independent, where does that leave it? Bristol was a very strong contender, and ticked all the boxes and it would have been a real boost to making us the green capital of the UK."

West of England Local Enterprise Partnership chairman Colin Skellett, right, said: "It is very disappointing that it is not coming to Bristol. We put together a really strong bid.

"We always knew that there would be strong competition from Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, but we thought we had a good set of credentials.

"But there are positives to take from this – it was really encouraging, the way that everyone came together to push the Bristol bid.

"We need now to make sure that we set about getting a large chunk of the money being invested in green technology.

"Just because the Green Investment Bank is not going to be based in Bristol, it doesn't mean we can't get some of the money."

City council leader Barbara Janke said: "The opportunity has been missed to send out a message of confidence to investors from Britain and abroad that Bristol is somewhere to do business. Nevertheless, Bristol remains a showcase green eco-system which brings together creative and innovative projects with expert financial and legal know-how."

Business Secretary Vince Cable, left, said: "Harnessing the strengths of Edinburgh and London will support the Green Investment Bank's ambition to become a world leader.

"Edinburgh has a thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management."

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