Green bank team ‘could do so much more for capital’

EDINBURGH Chamber of Commerce is calling for the team that brought the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to the city to be kept together so it can attract further investment to the capital.

Robert Carr, president of the chamber, hailed Business Secretary Vince Cable’s decision last week to open the bank’s head office in Edinburgh as a “triumph” for the city.

Carr said: “What has been most impressive is the way a coalition of partners – business, political, private and public sector – developed real momentum. We would like to see this model applied to investment opportunities in the future. It has worked in this instance – why not in other sectors too?”

Nathan Goode, a partner at accountancy firm Grant Thornton, wrote the business case to bring the bank to Edinburgh. He said: “A lot of people who would normally compete with each other came together to work on the GIB. The Scottish Government’s push to invest more money in cities creates a lot of opportunities. That’s the kind of work we could look at.”