• Three quarters (77%) of authorities can boost investment by providing interactive project pipelines
  • Investment readiness is driven by partnership, not maturity, with authority age explaining just a quarter (25%) of differences in investment readiness
  • The report calls for a new partnership model between investors, regional authorities and government to develop a stronger pipeline of investment-ready opportunities

Standard Life plc (‘Standard Life’ or the ‘Group’), a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement saving and income, today published its report entitled “Regional Investment Readiness Review: how UK regions can attract long term investment”, setting out a path to unlocking almost £80 billion of identified regional investment opportunities. This will require stronger partnerships between investors, regional authorities, public finance institutions and government.

The report, developed in partnership with Henham Strategy, finds that England's Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) have collectively identified almost £80billion of investment opportunities across infrastructure, housing, clean energy and economic development. At a time when pension funds and insurers are increasingly seeking to invest in productive UK assets, ensuring regions can compete for and secure investment that can drive economic growth, create jobs and support the long-term returns needed by savers is a critical challenge.

Investors are often engaged too late

UK pension funds and insurers manage around £3 trillion of assets, and commitments made through the Mansion House reforms could unlock £25 billion in UK private markets. However, the report finds that many investors are brought into the MSA’s project development process too late, limiting their ability to help shape projects around investment requirements from the outset. As a result, translating regional projects such as housing and regeneration into investable opportunities will require earlier and closer partnership across the investment ecosystem.

Despite identifying almost £80 billion of investment opportunities, many regions face challenges converting ambition into investable propositions. Three quarters (77%) of authorities have the opportunity to boost investment by providing interactive project pipelines as project-level information, pipeline visibility and formal investor engagement remain inconsistent. So far only 23% of MSAs providing interactive project pipelines and 38% publicly identifying delivery ownership for key projects.

While collaboration on individual projects is common, opportunities are often presented to investors at a relatively late stage, limiting their ability to help shape projects around risk, return and financing requirements. The review makes clear that stronger collaboration earlier in the development process could help create a more robust pipeline of investment-ready opportunities across the UK.

Manuel Dusina, Head of Real Assets at Standard Life said: "The UK has a significant opportunity to unlock greater investment into its regions. Institutional investors are increasingly looking for long-term productive assets, while regional authorities have identified nearly £80 billion of potential investment opportunities. The priority now is ensuring investors are brought into the process earlier, helping to shape projects around investment requirements from the outset rather than once they have already been developed.”

Partnership is the key differentiator

Successful investment attraction is shown to depend less on the maturity of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities and their devolution arrangements and more on the strength of collaboration, capability and investor engagement.

While governance and strategic leadership are generally strengths across the MSA landscape, the age of a Strategic Authority explains just 25% of the variation in all indicators for investment readiness, suggesting that partnership, project development and investor engagement are far more significant factors.

Manuel Dusina continues:“Fostering cohesion between regional authorities, investors and government, means more long-term capital channelled into projects that support growth, infrastructure and prosperity across the UK. For Standard Life, that ultimately means creating the conditions for stronger long-term outcomes for savers and helping shape the communities and economy they will retire into."

A roadmap for stronger collaboration

To strengthen investment readiness across the UK, Standard Life is calling for four key shifts:

  • Move from prospectuses to investable propositions, supported by clearer project-level information and prioritised opportunities
  • Move from late-stage engagement to investor co-design, bringing investors into project development earlier
  • Move from isolated projects to repeatable delivery models, helping regions build track records and investor confidence
  • Move from fragmented disclosure to common standards, making opportunities easier to compare, assess and progress

The review concludes that stronger collaboration between investors, regional authorities, public finance institutions and government will be essential to creating a more effective pipeline of investment-ready opportunities capable of supporting regional growth, infrastructure delivery and long-term economic resilience across the UK. In turn, this can help create the productive assets and long-term investment opportunities that support better outcomes for savers and help build the world they will retire into.

Phil Witcherley, Director of Growth and Innovation at the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority said : ""The North East is home to some of the UK's most exciting investment opportunities, with internationally recognised strengths in offshore wind and clean energy, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, digital technology and innovation. We have a strong track record of attracting investment into these sectors, but as competition for capital grows, regions need to work harder than ever to ensure opportunities are investment-ready, commercially credible and aligned to investor priorities.”

“This report provides a timely assessment of the factors that support successful investment and offers practical insights that can help places strengthen their investment readiness. Importantly, it recognises that this is not solely a challenge for Mayoral Combined Authorities to solve. Developing strong propositions is essential, but investors, public finance institutions and central Government all have a critical role to play in shaping projects, addressing risk, improving viability and unlocking private capital at scale.”

“That collaborative approach will be vital if we are to realise the full potential of regions like the North East and secure the investment needed to drive growth, create high-quality jobs and deliver long-term prosperity for our communities."

 

Notes to editors:

  1. Standard Life and Henham Strategy’s Mobilising Capital in English Regions: An Investment Readiness Review is available at: www.standardlifeplc.com/news-and-views/regional-investment-readiness-review
  2. Developed in partnership with Henham Strategy and informed by insights from 13 English Mayoral Strategic Authorities, investors, government departments and public finance institutions, the review examines the practical barriers preventing regional opportunities from attracting long-term private capital. Research conducted [March – June 2026S].
  3. To build a shared understanding of investment readiness, indicators were developed to assess investment readiness through a structured, iterative process, to test and refine with over 30 organisations include MSAs, investors and government department. Standardised metrics and assessment criteria were used to enable robust and comparable assessment across MSAs.
  4. £80bn investment opportunity identified from Mayoral Strategic Authorities’ investment prospectuses.

About Standard Life

Standard Life is a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement saving and income.
We are proud to manage around c£317bn in assets on behalf of our 12 million customers, and we champion the belief that everyone's journey to and through retirement can be better. 

With our focus entirely on retirement savings and income we want to be the business that people trust to guide their retirement journey, helping our customers achieve better outcomes and greater financial security in later life. 

As a FTSE 100-listed group we are using our size, expertise and influence to shape the world our customers will retire into, and are committed to helping three million customers by 2035, take action towards a better retirement. 

Standard Life is a responsible investor with a clear commitment to supporting a more sustainable future. The company has achieved its net zero goal across its emissions for 2025 and is working towards net zero investment portfolios by 2050 or sooner.

Standard Life is recognised as a leading employer, with long-standing accreditation as a Living Wage Employer, Living Pension Employer and Carer Positive Exemplary Employer and in 2025 became one of Britain’s Most Admired Companies in 2025.

 

About Henham

Henham Strategy is a public policy and public affairs consultancy, operating at the intersection of policy, politics and place. Our team brings together expertise in local growth, industrial strategy, stakeholder engagement, economic analysis, policy development and devolution. We combine robust evidence with strategic insights and strong networks to shape policy, influence decision-making and achieve client outcomes.

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