WMG’s Chairman and founder, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, welcomes Dr Vince Cable’s promise of a £1bn 'business bank'.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya said:

“For two years now I've been fighting hard for a business bank, having seen how hard it has been for SME's to get capital.”

“I am absolutely delighted that Dr Vince Cable has made this announcement. Whilst details are sketchy, it is a wonderful start. This will really help SME's throughout the country. “

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya is the Chairman and founder of WMG at the University of Warwick. He has published extensively in the field of manufacturing and is advisor to many companies and organisations around the world. With many honours to his name, he was awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to higher education and industry and was elevated to the Lords in 2004.

Notes for Editors

• In a Financial Times interview from July 2011, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya calls for such a bank - watch online.
• In a related House of Lords debate on Enterprise & Innovation, 04 February 2010, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya said:

“We need a change of culture, so I propose the creation of an arm's-length innovation bank to develop technology as a source of wealth creation. If we put together all the different sources of funding from applied science across Government, we could create a £1 billion-a-year applied research fund with no extra funding. We should integrate both funds with other funding, like enterprise capital funds, the higher education innovation fund, launch aid and the regional venture capital funds. This would create an innovation bank, which would encourage entrepreneurs, researchers, business leaders and inward investors to create wealth in Britain. It could be a one-stop shop."

• WMG was founded by Professor Lord Bhattacharyya in 1980 to reinvigorate manufacturing. From its inception, WMG’s mission has been to improve the competitiveness of organisations around the world through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment, bringing academic rigour to industrial and organisational practice.

For further information please contact:

Lisa Barwick, WMG, University of Warwick Tel: 024 76 524721 or 07824 540845

Peter Dunn, email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk
Head of Communications, Communications Office, University House, University of Warwick, Coventry
Tel: 024 76 523708
Mobile 07767 655860
International +44 24 76 523708; Mobile +44 7767 655860

PR165 24th September 2012