Why can't we finance the factory?

Why can’t Britain finance the factories it says it wants to build? The UK has some of the deepest capital markets in the world, yet industrial businesses still struggle to raise the patient, long-term capital needed to expand. That problem is not new. In 1931 a committee was established by the government to assess the UK economy and finance sector, amongst its findings was a structural gap  in access to capital for small and medium sized industrial businesses, it became known as the Macmillan Gap - named after the committee's chair. By 1945 Britain had created a new institution, the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, to try to close it. In this episode, Rob explores what that history can teach us now. Why do viable industrial investments still fall between conventional bank lending and growth capital? What role should public finance play where demand is real but uncertain? And what would it take to rebuild the industrial intelligence, flexible products and patience needed to turn capital into factories? From ICFC and Oxford Instruments to today’s public finance institutions, this is an episode about the gap between having money in the system and being able to deploy it into productive industrial capacity. How We Build Britain is independently produced. The views expressed are Rob Gilbert's own and do not represent Baringa, Great British Energy or the UK Government. If you have questions, comments or suggestions - please send us a mail