Business News Round Up (15/05/25)
Scottish National Investment Bank faces financial barriers after good start
The Scottish National Investment Bank will not be able to end its reliance on public funding unless ministers can make a case for UK Treasury rules to change, Scotland’s Auditor General has said. The bank was launched in 2020 to independently invest in commercial projects that will help address the climate crisis, boost innovation, and improve the wellbeing of communities. It has made good progress since then. By the end of 2024/25, it had committed over £785 million into 43 businesses and projects, attracted £1.4 billion of private sector funding, and helped create or safeguard more than 3,000 jobs. The bank has been well run to date. It has a rigorous process for investing public funds and has laid good foundations for reporting on its impact. It generated over £19 million in income in 2023/24, more than covering its operational costs for the first time.
UK economy grows at faster pace in a year
The UK economy grew 0.7 per cent in the first quarter, the fastest pace in a year, in a boost to Labour ahead of the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Thursday’s GDP figure for the first three months of the year was above the 0.6 per cent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and up from the 0.1 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter. The first quarter’s performance was powered by the services sector and an increase in investment, according to the Office for National Statistics. Net trade also made a positive contribution, suggesting activity was brought forward in anticipation of higher tariffs. The Labour government says growth is its top priority, although its critics accuse it of slowing down the economy with measures such as an increase in employers’ national insurance contributions that took effect last month.
https://www.ft.com/content/7ad382d3-8333-4e35-8a83-fedc45bfeda6
Report: female-led startups shut out of VC deals
The UK’s startup ecosystem is suffering from a ‘deep and persistent’ gender funding gap, with women, and especially all-female teams, struggling to raise the same level of investments that male-led ventures typically enjoy. UK-based policy and advocacy group Startup Coalition’s latest report, Girls Just Wanna Have Funding: Addressing the Barriers to Finance for Female Founders, found that gender disparity is deeply rooted among UK-based startups and scaleups, where despite women making up nearly 14% of founders, all-female teams receive just 6-7% of equity deals. All male founding teams take in 72-73% of deals across markets, while a disproportionate share of funding for female founders flows to mixed-gender teams, which the data shows receive 21% of British Business Bank (BBB) supported deals and 19% of overall equity market and PE/VC market deals.
https://www.digit.fyi/report-female-led-startups-shut-out-of-vc-deals
Manchester and Liverpool city regions to highlight strengths and explore future of transport and devolution
Transport infrastructure, regeneration and devolution are among the themes set to be explored by a Greater Manchester delegation at UKREiiF, while innovative Liverpool City Region projects will also be showcased at the event. Manchester will be represented by The Manchester Invest Partnership which is headed up by Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and co-ordinated by Marketing Manchester. The Manchester Invest Partnership brings together Greater Manchester’s local authorities and private sector partners to present a strong vision for the future. It helps to position Manchester as a global destination for investment and a leader in English devolution. The Manchester delegation will be located alongside Opportunity London in the Canary Bar area on the UKREiiF site. Among the topics under consideration will be the opportunities and challenges of public-private partnerships vs capital investment, new approaches to transport infrastructure and how to deliver the government’s plans for growth through devolution.