Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has outlined the next steps for the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and a new British Growth Partnership, in a move that is expected to release "hundreds of millions" of pension fund investment.

Closing the International Investment Summit, Reeves confirmed that restoring fiscal stability will be at the centre of her first Budget on 30 October, arguing that it is the only way to ensure the government and business can invest with confidence.

In line with this, Reeves said that both the NWF and British Growth Partnership will aim to drive long-term investment in Britain, as the government works "hand in hand" with business to create high skilled jobs across the UK, helping make people better off.

She also pledged to create a tax system that supports wealth creation and increases business investment.

“When we said we would end instability, make growth our national mission and enter a true partnership with business we meant it," Reeves stated.

"The decisions which lie ahead of us will not always be easy. But by taking the right choices to grow our economy and drive investment we will create good jobs and new opportunities across every part of the country. That is the Britain we are building.”

In particular, Reeves confirmed that the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) will operate as the NWF, with its headquarters in Leeds.

The NWF is intended to “catalyse” tens of billions of pounds of private investment into UK clean energy and growth industries, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and gigafactories.

However, building on UKIB’s leadership and expertise, the NWF will also be able to make investments that maximise the mobilisation of private investment.

This will include the ability to trial new blended finance solutions with government departments that take on additional risk to facilitate higher impact in individual deals and performance guarantees.

The government will also bring forward legislation to give the NWF a broader mandate than just infrastructure, to ensure it remains a permanent part of the government's investment offer.

Commenting on the news, NWF CEO, John Flint, said: “Building on the strong foundations we have laid as UKIB, we will hit the ground running, using sector insight and investment expertise that the market knows and trusts to unlock billions of pounds of private finance for projects across the UK.

“With additional capital to deploy against a bigger mandate, we stand ready to help the market invest with confidence, in support of the government's growth ambitions."

Reeves, alongside Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, also announced plans for a new British Growth Partnership as part of the British Business Bank (BBB).

The British Growth Partnership is designed to allow it to do more by creating a new way for the BBB and institutional investors to invest in innovative companies together.

To support this, the BBB will look to raise "hundreds of millions" of pounds of investment for the fund in the coming months, with the aim of making investments by the end of 2025.

The government announced that it will also implement a set of reforms to the BBB's financial framework, which will increase its impact and increase its ability to respond flexibly to the market, including putting the BBB's set of commercial programmes on a permanent footing.

Commenting on the news, BBB CEO, Louis Taylor, said: “By establishing the British Growth Partnership, the Bank will encourage more UK pension fund investment into the UK’s fastest growing, most innovative companies.

“In addition, reforms to the bank’s financial framework, putting our £7.9bn commercial programmes on a permanent footing, means we can flexibly re-invest our investment returns over the long term to increase growth and prosperity across the UK.”

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