Unlocking regional growth

We believe long-term investment has an important role to play in unlocking a better future for the millions of people saving for retirement. Productive investment in infrastructure, housing, clean energy and regional growth can support long-term economic resilience while creating opportunities for capital to be deployed in ways that benefit savers and society. This review explores what it takes to make regional opportunities more attractive to institutional investors and help unlock investment at scale.

How can the UK unlock more long-term investment into regional growth?

Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) have identified around £80bn of regional investment opportunities, demonstrating the scale of ambition across the UK’s regions. However, many of these opportunities are not yet presented in a way that gives institutional investors the information they need to assess, price and finance them.

Regional investment can support economic growth, infrastructure delivery and the transition to net zero. It can also help create a stronger economy for people saving for retirement by connecting long-term investment with assets that support future growth. But ambition alone is not enough. To attract long-term capital, regional opportunities need clear evidence, robust project information and credible delivery plans that gives investors confidence to commit.

What is investment readiness?

Investment readiness describes how prepared a region, project or investment opportunity is to attract and secure private capital from investors such as pension funds, insurers and infrastructure investors.

The challenge is not a lack of ambition from regional bodies. It is that many opportunities are not yet presented in a way that gives investors confidence to deploy capital, including clear information on project maturity, ownership, risk, financing structures and delivery capability.

The regional investment readiness gap

£80bn
regional investment opportunities identified within Mayoral Strategic Authorities investment prospectuses

 

23%
Only 23% of MSAs have interactive project pipeline tools

 

38%
Only 38% of MSAs publicly identify who is accountable for delivering key projects

Key findings from the Regional Investment Readiness Review report

Our research found that regions are generally strongest at the beginning of the investment journey, where governance, leadership and strategic direction are often well established. However, readiness tends to weaken as opportunities move closer to financing, delivery and investment decision-making.

  • Project-level information remains a significant challenge. Investors need clearer information on planning status, capital requirements, ownership, commercial models, risk allocation and delivery routes before opportunities can progress.
  • Pipeline visibility and quality vary considerably. While investor prospectuses are now common, many lack the project-level detail needed to assess opportunities quickly and consistently.
  • Accountability is not always visible. Where project ownership and delivery responsibility are unclear, investors may find it harder to understand how projects will be governed, managed and delivered.
  • Many regions are better at identifying growth opportunities than evidencing their competitive advantage. Only half of MSAs provide employment or Gross Value Added (GVA) data to support their priority sectors.
  • Investment readiness is not determined by institutional age alone. Governance, capability, investor engagement and pipeline quality are stronger indicators of readiness than the age of a devolution deal.

The five-stage investment journey from regional ambition to investment

Through a combination of desk research and stakeholder engagement, our report assesses investment readiness across a five-stage investment journey:

  1. Establishing the investment case for the region
  2. Shaping investable propositions
  3. Structuring finance and managing risk
  4. Engaging and transacting with investors
  5. Delivering, reporting and building a track record

This framework helps identify where regions are strongest, where barriers emerge, and what is needed to help opportunities progress from ambition to investment.

Four shifts that can help turn regional ambition into financed projects

The report identifies four practical shifts that could help convert regional ambition into investable propositions and, ultimately, financed projects.

  1. Move from prospectuses to investable propositions. Regions should prioritise a smaller number of high-potential opportunities and provide clearer information on capital requirement, planning status, commercial models, risk allocation, delivery routes and ownership.
  2. Move from late-stage engagement to investor co-design. MSAs, investors and public finance institutions should engage earlier so projects are shaped around realistic investor requirements from the outset.
  3. Move from isolated projects to repeatable delivery models. Successful projects should be used to build visible delivery track records, supported by clearer reporting, named accountability and partnership structures that can be replicated across future opportunities.
  4. Move from fragmented disclosure to common standards. Central government, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and the Office for Investment should support consistent project disclosure standards so regional opportunities are easier to compare, assess and progress.

Why regional investment matters

The UK has a significant opportunity to mobilise long-term capital into productive assets, infrastructure, housing and clean energy. At the same time, the UK's investment gap is estimated to reach £150bn by 2030, highlighting the importance of attracting private capital into regional growth opportunities.

Pension funds and insurers are increasingly looking for opportunities that can support long-term outcomes for savers while helping to build a more resilient economy. But for capital to flow at scale, investors need confidence that opportunities are mature enough to progress through due diligence, with clear information on risk, return, delivery ownership and financing structures.

This is particularly important as the UK seeks to accelerate regional growth, modernise infrastructure and support the transition to net zero. If opportunities are not presented in a consistent and investor-ready way, capital may remain available in principle but difficult to deploy in practice.