Scottish National Investment Bank: review of performance 2026

The wider landscape

25. The Bank had to find its place in an institutional landscape that was already relatively crowded, alongside not only Scottish bodies, notably the enterprise agencies and the Scottish Futures Trust, but also UK investment bodies such as the British Business Bank (BBB), and the National Wealth Fund (NWF); as well as the wider private sector investment ecosystem.

26. That landscape has itself not remained static over the past five years. For example, the UK Government has evolved its general approach to all public finance institutions; has amended and widened the mandates for the NWF and the BBB, giving them additional resources and new flexibilities. It has also established an entirely new body, GB Energy, with a significant role to play in Scotland. All of these developments have practical implications for the Bank and its activities.

27. Against that backdrop, the Bank has worked hard to establish its distinctive identity, to build wider understanding of its role, and to establish positive relationships with other institutions at both strategic and practical level. I heard positive feedback from many of them around this, and there were some good examples of collaboration to point to: however, I also heard of a degree of continuing uncertainty among some other market participants and some wider stakeholders.

28. Clearly this is not an issue for the Bank alone. There is a need for strategic clarity, supported by effective communication, clear referral mechanisms, and where appropriate strong partnership working arrangements, on the part of all relevant institutions, in order to maximise the effectiveness of collective public sector activity alongside private investors in support of the Scottish economy.

29. In this context, it was encouraging to hear that the Bank now participates in the UK Government’s strategic forum for public finance institutions. However, I think there is also scope for the Bank and the key UK institutions to work together to set out more clearly for the Scottish marketplace a shared view of their respective positioning and the way they collaborate. In parallel, the Bank and the other specifically Scottish bodies, facilitated by the Scottish Government, should produce a similar joint statement around roles, responsibilities and collaboration.