In 2023, the UK’s financial and related professional services industry made a record tax contribution of £110.2bn, according to the latest report conducted by PwC UK and commissioned by TheCityUK and City of London Corporation. That’s 12.3% of all UK tax receipts – enough to fully fund the UK government’s entire annual education budget.
We in the financial services industry know how much value the sector adds to global economies – whether that’s through tax intake, job creation, or funding investment into essential infrastructure.
The British family of financial centres, made up of the UK and the Crown Dependencies, creates value that is spread across all four nations of the UK.
A Guernsey Finance-commissioned Frontier Economics report issued earlier this year found that Guernsey-based funds channel £57bn of international investment into the UK economy; this is three times the estimated cost of Crossrail.
This is important because of what that funding is used for - infrastructure projects, financing business through private equity, and property investments.
Additionally, an estimated £3-4bn of that capital has wider social benefits for the UK through improved infrastructure in energy, health, education and social housing.
One fund strategy that contributes to the development of sustainable infrastructure is Gresham House's British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (BSIF) strategy.
Gresham House's focus for the strategy is to invest in sub-£50m initial investments in regional projects with a holistic approach across six target subsectors. These are: decarbonisation, health and education, resource efficiency, digital inclusion, regeneration and waste solutions. Examples of portfolio companies supported by the strategy include vertical farms, energy transition infrastructure and biodiversity net gain habitat banks.
Gresham House has approximately £8.8bn across a number of real assets and sustainable infrastructure investments. The BSIF Strategy has eight funds based in Guernsey investing in sustainable infrastructure.
Following the successful final close of BSIF II at £450m in November 2023 – Gresham House’s Sustainable Infrastructure team are eyeing a funding target of £750m for their third flagship fund, BSIF III, which launched in July.
The findings from the Frontier Economics report also highlight that UK fund managers are generating more than £2bn in fees from Guernsey-based funds annually. Additionally, £7bn is created in returns for UK investors.
This investment isn’t limited to the City of London. More than two thirds of the UK’s financial services industry is housed outside of the City, and Guernsey is proud to have a symbiotic relationship with all four regions of the UK. Guernsey-based funds channel capital into projects across the nation such as solar and wind farms, biodiversity credits, and vertical farming.
In fact, at Guernsey Finance we have recently appointed our first business development representative for the north of England – Rowan Stone.
Bringing more than two and a half decades’ experience as a strategic brand marketer to the role, Rowan will develop the profile of Guernsey in the north of England and increase the understanding of key products and services across the sectors of investment funds, private wealth, insurance and pensions.
Rowan’s experience will help strengthen our connection with the north of England, which is a growing focus for us as business continues to grow in this region. Guernsey’s relationship with the UK is a partnership. Our dynamism as a specialist finance centre creates value for the UK via inward investment and expert professional services, which bolsters economic growth for both Guernsey and the UK.
We hope this partnership will continue to grow as Guernsey’s financial services industry continues to work with our UK colleagues, counterparts and clients, building up the British family as leading international finance centres.
