Lorna brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience with over 30 years in infrastructure from her previous role as Director of Sponsorship of Phase 2 at HS2 and more recently, as Advisor to the Great British Railway Transition Team. She will lead the LA team in its work to support UK-wide local authority growth and net zero ambitions via expert advice and innovative lending.
Lorna said:
I am delighted to be joining the Bank during such an exciting time in its development. Local Authorities have a key role in the delivery of net zero and boosting regional growth. I look forward to using my experience in infrastructure development and delivery to support them in accessing the necessary investment and expertise to deliver their sustainable projects.
In addition to Lorna’s appointment, this week the Bank also welcomed three new directors to the Local Authority team as the Bank’s recruitment continues to gather pace.
Iain Watson, Director, Local Authority Advisory & Lending
Iain has significant experience in public sector infrastructure and low carbon investment having spent the last 15 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland, UK Green Investment Bank and latterly at Climate Tech Capital Partners.
Peter Chalmers, Director, Local Authority Advisory & Lending
Peter joins from Shawbrook Bank where he ran the Sustainable Energy Financing team. Peter has spent 15 years at various banks focussing on renewable energy and broader infrastructure lending, mostly across Europe.
Bethany Carter Ottens, Assistant Director, Local Authority Advisory & Lending
Beth initially joined the Bank as a secondee from HM Treasury where she worked as a Senior Policy Adviser. She brings 9 years of policy development expertise to the team with particular experience in economic development and project/corporate finance.
The UKIB Local Authority team is currently engaged in a number of advisory projects across the UK including a regeneration scheme with Perth and Kinross Council; the potential development of a new station and associated regeneration in Bradford; Zero Emission buses with Transport for Wales; and energy efficiency measures with Leeds City Council and West Midlands Combined Authority.
Find out more about the Bank’s Local Authority team and the services available.
Further information:
Local Authority – Lending
- The Bank offers loans at preferential rates to all four nations of the UK, tailored to the needs of Local Authority infrastructure projects.
- The Bank encourage approaches from Authorities to discuss their project needs so that we can work to deliver an effective finance solution.
- Read more about the Local Authority Lending service here.
Local Authority - Advisory
- To complement the Bank’s investment activity, it also provides an expert advisory service to help Local Authorities, and other project sponsors, develop and finance infrastructure projects.
- There is no charge to Local Authorities for the advisory service.
- The Bank completed 3 pilot projects to test and learn from our offer in 2022 and are now working with a range of projects and sectors across the UK.
Related news & articles
Meet the team
If you are a local authority and would like to understand if your infrastructure project is in our mandate and how we may be able to help you, please contact us.
Supporting local authorities on their journey to net zero
Three hundred Local Authorities have declared a climate emergency, and two-thirds want to reach net zero by 2030 – ahead of the UK government 2050 target. Dan Mansfield talks about what the Bank is doing to help.
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