Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the press release entitled ‘Business Secretary backs British scaleups with growth package and red tape review’ published on 20 January 2026, what financial return his Department expects from the £50 million investment into Epidarex Capital and IQ Capital.

These investments were made by the British Business Bank. The Bank’s investments in aggregate are expected to generate a financial return that exceeds the Government’s cost of borrowing. In the year ended March 2025, the Bank reported a profit of £144 million and a five-year average adjusted return on capital employed of 4.2%, against a target of 0.9%.

There is no target or expectation for returns from individual investments, which can vary widely. For its commercial equity products, the Bank’s performance will be benchmarked against the median fund performance in the Venture Capital market.