The
Eden Project has bid to be the home of a £3 billion investment
bank that the Government hopes will underpin a green energy revolution.
Ministers have also received a submission from Torbay, meaning
two Westcountry areas are among 32 locations looking to host the new
Green Investment Bank.
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While neither Cornwall nor Devon is considered a major
financial centre, both bids are playing on the region’s green
credentials, low costs and enviable quality of life.
Each points to the success of the Met Office re-locating to
Exeter in 2003 as evidence of high-calibre staff settling in the far
South West.
The Cornwall bid, backed by
Eden bosses and the county’s council
and development company, emphasises the symbolism of the bank’s offices
sitting alongside the iconic biomes.
Its proposal states: “The first investment the Green Investment
Bank will make is in choosing its own location. Wouldn’t it make sense
if that investment, that location, symbolises everything the Green
Investment Bank is designed to achieve?”
Torbay, dubbed the English Riviera, intends to base the bank’s headquarters on the edge of Torquay.
“The South West is at the heart of the UK’s green economy,” its
submission, penned by the Torbay Development Agency, outlines. “And
Torbay is centrally placed to take advantage of this.”
The Government has repeatedly hailed the potential for wind, wave, geothermal and solar technology in the South West.
Last month, ministers announced the region is to be the UK’s
first Marine Energy Park, paving the way for jobs-boosting investment in
wave and tidal power.
Kevin Lavery, chief executive of Cornwall Council, told the
Western Morning News: “It is a bit of a long shot as we do not have a
major financial sector like a Leeds or a Manchester. But where better to
base a financial institution for green energy than the
Eden Project?”
Adrian Sanders, Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, said: “I am fully behind it. We are extremely well-placed in a number of ways.”
The bank would bring more than 100 jobs to whichever area is
selected, and would lend an area added kudos for being home to the first
bank of its kind in the world.
By putting forward £3 billion of state money as a stake, the
Government aims to generate an extra £15 billion of private investment
by 2015.
The bank should have powers to borrow, issue bonds to
institutional investors and raise cash from the public through the sale
of “green ISAs”, commentators have said.
Both bids underplay the region’s modest banking reputation and
that they are locations physically remote from the City of London.
Both Eden and Torbay, which would base the bank at Edginswell
business park in Torquay, point out there are few regions to rival the
Westcountry on green power.
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University campuses in Plymouth, Exeter and Penryn, near
Falmouth, boast world-leading renewables academics and the Wave Hub off
the North Cornwall coast is poised to be the world’s largest wave energy
berth. Both argue the arrival of the Green Investment Bank could
transform some of the poorest communities in the country, but that their
economies are moving in the right direction.
Diggers are poised to begin work on the South Devon link road,
slashing journey times to Torbay, after the Government committed around
£75 million to the bypass.
Cornwall will boast one of the fastest broadband networks in
Europe, one of the spoils of being lavished with more than £1 billion of
EU regeneration cash in the last decade.
Those behind Cornwall’s bid believe being based at Eden, which
has proposed a geothermal “hot rocks” plant and is globally recognised
thanks to attracting millions of visitors to the former clay mines, is a
trump card.
“The location will make the bank internationally famous from day one,” it states.
Other areas to have expressed an interest in hosting the headquarters include Liverpool, Leeds, Gloucester and Bristol.
Business Secretary Vince Cable will announce his final decision on siting the HQ this month.
Factors to be taken into account include recruiting and retaining
the specialist staff needed to run the organisation, while also
providing a location that provides good value for money.
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Mr Cable said: “I am delighted that the Green Investment Bank has
fired the imagination of so many public and private sector groups keen
to host this world-first institution.”