Britain wants to reindustrialise, but who will pay for the equipment?

Ministers have announced £700 million to prepare up to ten industrial and commercial sites, but businesses will also need affordable ways to buy the machinery that makes them productive. The article argues that equipment finance providers should be involved early in regional industrial plans, so companies can invest without using up cash needed for wages and materials.

Examples include an aerospace firm in Northern Ireland, which received £1.6 million towards a £3.1 million machining centre, and a Welsh dairy farm that used £360,000 towards robotic milking equipment. In the year to September 2026, Finance & Leasing Association members provided £42 billion in asset finance, including more than £25 billion to small and medium-sized businesses; the research cited associates this lending with £28.2 billion in gross value added and around 350,000 jobs. Regional finance was equivalent to 2.8% of Northern Ireland’s gross value added and 2.6% of Wales’s, compared with 0.8% in London.