UK Scale-up Fund: Leeds Investor Among £1bn Backers

Leeds-based Border to Coast is part of a pension consortium exploring a £1bn-plus fund to back British science and tech firms, unveiled in Andy Burnham’s first week as PM

A Leeds-headquartered pension investor is helping to shape a proposed £1bn fund to back Britain’s fastest-growing companies. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, which manages close to £120bn from its base in the city, is one of a consortium of major UK pension providers exploring the UK Scale-up Fund, announced by the government this week. The vehicle would channel institutional money into high-growth science and technology firms, helping them scale in Britain rather than seek capital abroad.

Why This Matters For Leeds

A large domestic scale-up fund, part-shaped by a Leeds institution, could help address the funding gap that keeps promising companies, and the jobs they create, in the region rather than losing them south or overseas. Nothing is guaranteed for Leeds specifically. But a homegrown investor helping design where billions of pounds of patient capital flows is a genuine seat at a table that matters.

What the UK Scale-up Fund Would Do

The consortium has committed to explore, rather than yet establish, a fund of more than £1bn dedicated to investing in scaling UK businesses. It would connect pension savers’ money with founders and venture managers backing British innovation, with the aim of strong long-term returns for members alongside economic growth. The British Business Bank is working with the providers and intends to invest alongside them, and the Office for Investment is supporting the work. A process to appoint a manager for the proposed vehicle will begin shortly. Border to Coast is joined in the group by Railpen, Nest, LPPI, LGPS Central and others, spanning defined contribution, defined benefit and Local Government Pension Scheme money. Border to Coast alone invests on behalf of 18 local government funds representing around two million members and 5,000 employers.

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“This new fund would help unlock good growth in every postcode, connecting pension investment with the entrepreneurs and technologies that will reindustrialise Britain.”

— Andy Burnham, Prime Minister

A Leeds Institution at the Table

The announcement comes in the first full week of Andy Burnham’s premiership, after he became Prime Minister on 20 July, with John Healey as Chancellor, a government whose stated pitch is growth and reindustrialisation across the regions. That a Leeds-based pension pool is among the architects gives the city a direct stake in how the policy takes shape. Border to Coast, established in 2018 and regulated as an asset manager, has built one of the largest private markets programmes in the local government pension world, covering private equity, infrastructure and private credit. Whether the UK Scale-up Fund ultimately backs Leeds companies will depend on the opportunities that emerge, but the city’s presence in the consortium means its perspective is being heard as the fund is designed.