Cardiff misses out on Green Bank

The Welsh Government has failed in its bid to secure the Green Investment Bank for Wales. Instead the company's headquarters has be allocated to Scotland, with staff also being based in London.

Edwina Hart, Wales' Business Minister, submitted the proposal for Cardiff to be the bank's home in January. At the time of the bid, Edwina Hart said, "Cardiff embraces and epitomises the principles of the [bank], offering a location at the heart of the city’s Central Business District."

A Green Investment Bank gives green loans for energy saving technologies and projects to private individuals in the UK.

In response to the announcement today, Edwina Hart said her department was "disappointed that the bid they made,...to base the Green Investment Bank with 50 to 70 jobs in Cardiff, was unsuccessful. "

The minister added, "There is a much bigger job opportunity arising for Welsh businesses to help administer the 'Green Deal'. "

Responding to the news that Edinburgh had been chosen over Cardiff, Simon Thomas, Plaid Cymru AM for mid and west Wales, criticised Labour for losing the deal by saying it was "sleeping on the job again."

Mr Thomas added that the failed bid was a missed opportunity because Wales has an "abundance of natural resources" which could have been capitalised on through this investment.

The full report can be viewed here.