Last week, BusinessLDN members heard directly from Directors of the £27bn National Wealth Fund (NWF) about how it plans to deliver against the Government’s clean energy and growth missions and what that means for London, kindly hosted by Field Consulting at their new offices at Sea Containers House.
Launched in October last year, the NWF builds on the work it did as the UK Infrastructure Bank, deploying its capital, including debt, equity, and guarantees, to help to get high-impact infrastructure projects off the ground faster – with the aim to attract private co-investment of at a ratio of 3:1 at a portfolio level.
BusinessLDN members heard from Steve Lomas, Managing Director of Banking and Investments, and Iain Watson, Director of Local Authority Advisory and Lending, about how the Fund works in practice – partnering with business, local authorities, and investors to crowd in capital, plug funding gaps, and support projects that deliver real economic impact in London and beyond.
The NWF’s early investments show the scale of its ambition. In the capital, it’s already backing the Mayor’s Green Finance Fund – supporting retrofitting, renewables, and cleaner transport – and has provided a £300m facility to Transport for London to upgrade the Docklands Light Railway. These are long-overdue improvements that support jobs, skills, and supply chains across the capital.
BusinessLDN has long called for smarter use of public finance to unlock the investment needed to make London a more sustainable, inclusive, and globally competitive city. The NWF’s model – focused on large-scale projects, co-investment, and stepping in only where there’s a clear market gap – is exactly the kind of intervention we’ve championed.
Crucially, this isn’t a grant pot. The NWF is lending at commercial terms in the different areas of the capital stack and taking equity stakes – it’s investing for a return to accelerate project delivery. That means helping viable projects to raise investment, tackling bottlenecks, solving problems, and working closely with other financial institutions to move things along. The challenge isn’t always a lack of finance – it’s that deals have historically needed some commercial or funding viability shaping and then taken too long to land.
The discussion also highlighted where further support is needed – from scaling up retrofit delivery models and EV charging in the capital, to improving broadband and sustainable transport in harder-to-reach areas. Closer alignment with regional Mayoral authorities and local plans will be key to directing funding where it can make the biggest difference.
With the Fund’s refreshed strategy expected this autumn, now is the time for London businesses to engage. If the capital is to lead the UK’s green transition and economic renewal, tools like the NWF need to be deployed at pace and at scale.
A big thank you to Steve Lomas and Iain Watson, from the Fund, for joining us, and to Lucy Holbrook and the Field Consulting team for hosting the conversation.
For more information on BusinessLDN’s infrastructure programme, including an upcoming briefing with the National Energy System Operator on the London Regional Energy Plan, or to find out about getting involved in the Infrastructure Group, please get in touch with John Kavanagh, Programme Director, Infrastructure.