British Business Bank

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what criteria are used by the British Business Bank when investing in UK businesses.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

My Lords, the British Business Bank’s investments are aligned with its strategic mandate, which is agreed with the Government and sets the bank’s overall strategic direction. It includes four objectives, the first of which is to support our most promising businesses in the industrial strategy priority sectors to scale and stay here. The bank is operationally independent and is responsible for undertaking its own due diligence and making investment decisions independently of government.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that. The additional funding that has been given to the British Business Bank is welcome, but will it be encouraged to take higher risk stakes in some of our more innovative companies? Can we be assured that it has the expertise to make those critical judgments?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

My noble friend is right to ask about mandate and risk appetite. This is the direction that the British Business Bank is taking, guided by its new strategic mandate. It is increasingly taking bigger bets to enable innovative British companies to scale and stay in the UK. The Government have provided a one-third uplift to the BBB’s financial capacity to help it to do so. It is able to leverage deep industry expertise across its investment activities, including both direct investments and investments made through funds.