First Investment by UK Infrastructure Bank

Six years on from the closure of the Redcar steelworks, the industrial site by the River Tees where steel had been produced since 1875 has received welcome news of a £107m loan from the UK Infrastructure Bank to create a 450-metre quay to service the offshore wind sector.  South Bank Quay is part of the Teesworks Freeport project, which aims to be the UK’s premier offshore wind hub.

This represents the first investment by the UK Infrastructure Bank just four months after its official launch, and it neatly satisfies UKIB's central policy objectives highlighted in other Burges Salmon blogs (UK Infrastructure Bank - Financial returns v Building back better, fairer and greener, Ellen Williams (burges-salmon.com)), namely:

(1) help tackle climate change; and

(2) support regional and local economic growth.

The loan will be provided to the Tees Valley Combined Authority (who oversee Teesworks, the initiative to redevelop the 4,500 acre site south of the River Tees) utilising the Public Works Loan Board.  Approximately 800 jobs are directly supported by the UK Infrastructure Bank investment, but the installation of a further quay next to Teesport will attract other developers to the larger site.

With an initial budget of £22bn, we look forward to learning more about further projects the UK Infrastructure Bank will invest in.

The UK Infrastructure Bank has confirmed it will invest £107 million in the South Bank Quay development at Teesworks in Teesside (North-East England) supporting c.800 direct jobs.

https://www.ukib.org.uk/news/first-ukib-investment-goes-green