The British Business Bank is being asked to put more of its investment behind regional growth and the U.K.’s industrial and security priorities after a £2 billion funding increase at Budget 2026.
HM Treasury published the letter on Wednesday, Oct. 28. It was issued by the chancellor and business and trade secretary and sets the government’s direction for the bank’s investment activity.
The letter asks the bank to give greater weight to regional growth, reindustrialisation and the U.K.’s security and strategic capabilities. It anticipates as much as £900 million in support for defense and dual-use technologies.
The increase sits within a wider Budget capital plan. The Financial Times first reported the proposed increase. HM Treasury later confirmed the plan in comments reported by Reuters, which put the package at £20.4 billion over roughly five years, including £5 billion for the bank and £15.4 billion for the National Wealth Fund. EconoTimes covered the Budget’s wider capital plan earlier.
HM Treasury said the funds could support about 100,000 jobs by 2035 across artificial intelligence, defense and green energy. That figure is a projection, not a count of jobs already created.
