One of Britain’s leading banking bosses has underlined the importance of supporting entrepreneurs and SMEs in the ‘race to zero’.
Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest Group, believes being based in a cluster like the Humber - where business is already switched on to the green agenda - gives a significant advantage.
She sees companies operating on the cusp of the huge energy transitions as having a clearer path to their own Net Zero goals - while they form key pillars in the levelling up agenda.
Ms Rose was speaking after launching a new partnership with Microsoft to roll out tools to support the business community to reduce individual carbon footprints - allowing them to focus on recovery.
She said: “For SMEs, they are dealing with Covid, they are dealing with the economy re-starting and export issues, and the more they are connected to the supply chain and the more tools we can put in their hands to help them measure then finance the transition and create connectivity, that’s where I think we can play a big role.
“Being part of a broader group and a cluster is really helpful.”
Pointing to research about information-finding being one of the biggest concerns, she said: “The more connected and the more collaboration there is in a region, will help people identify that.
“We want to make sure we’re funding the transition but also supporting the transition.”
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She said she was fully behind the public/private partnership approach, with millions being pumped into industry and low carbon transformation, with announcements made this past month - from carbon capture and storage to making hospitals more efficient.
In Hull, Aura Innovation Centre also provides a platform for SMEs to accelerate clean growth credentials.
“Collaboration is super important,” she said. “No-one is going to solve this on their own, we need stakeholders to work together.”
The green agenda is also high on investor appetite too, with shareholders wanting to understand sustainability in decision-making.
Decarbonising the Humber - the most intensive industrial cluster:
“Around the investor community, environmental, social and governance policy is very, very prevalent,” she said.
Asked specifically about Yorkshire and Humber, Ms Rose agreed it was a great levelling up opportunity. “Regional development and the regional economy is so important,” she said.
“This is a huge opportunity in terms of job creation, transition and financing the transition - we are very much focused around supporting the regional economy and connecting in to the local stakeholders, the local businesses, the local supply chain.”
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A priority fund of £20 billion has been established by NatWest, with £12 million already invested last year, prompting Ms Rose to bring forward the lending target - and she has pitched her teams of relationship managers at the fore.
“Local job creation will only happen if we approach it from a regional perspective,” she said.
How NatWest is supporting BusinessLive
NatWest is the national partner of BusinessLive.
The banking group is teaming up with BusinessLive on a series of events throughout the year aimed at entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Alongside a wide range of banking services, NatWest offers businesses specialist sector knowledge in areas such as manufacturing and technology, as well as access to specialist entrepreneurial support.
“It is important to create that incentive, that job creation.”
Underlining the strong push from Westminster, Ms Rose added: “Build back better is absolutely right and it is the chance to really support the economic growth in the regions, in the local economies and the green economy gives us the chance to create new jobs, which is why I am so firmly behind entrepreneurs. They are creating these jobs and creating more green, sustainable businesses, so this is a real opportunity to level-up.”