A consortium led by Amber Infrastructure Ltd has been selected as preferred bidder to set up and manage a new £50 million investment fund that will support a range of regeneration projects across Scotland, the Scottish Government and European Investment Bank (EIB) said today.
The fund is part of the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) programme designed to lever significant co-investment from public and private sectors and supporting jobs and investment in regeneration areas.
The Scottish Government, using European Regional Development Funds, has contributed £50 million to establish the fund which will offer loans and equity investment to revenue generating projects in 13 local authority areas in Scotland.
JESSICA urban development funds are operated and run by specialist fund managers. The EIB led a procurement exercise to identify a successful fund manager candidate in Scotland; and the JESSICA Investment Board, which comprises Scottish Government officials and external experts, endorsed EIB's selection of the consortium led by Amber Infrastructure Ltd as preferred bidder.
The Scottish urban development fund will support a range of regeneration activity, including the development of office and commercial space, key transport projects and investment in the energy sector. This includes support for innovative approaches to energy efficiency retrofit measures - in particular, those targeting the retrofit of existing social housing stock.
Projects in 13 local authority areas are eligible for investment, determined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. These are Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.