The Development Bank of Wales is one of the UK’s largest regional economic development banks, providing loans and equity to Welsh businesses at every stage from startup to scaleup, succession and major property or infrastructure projects. Its mandate is to unlock growth by filling gaps in the market and leveraging in private capital, offering what it calls relationship driven finance.
Investment Director Rhian Elston is part of the senior management team leading this work and chairs investment decisions in Wales across technology, debt and equity portfolios. Elston describes the Development Bank’s role as providing “certainty to Welsh businesses that there is investment available to support their growth plans”, with every equity deal structured as co-investment alongside private money. Impact is tracked through measures such as the safeguarding and creation of jobs, co-investment leverage, with the Development Bank having an increasing focus on backing firms pursuing sustainability, digitalisation, and high value innovation.
For investors, the Development Bank is both a partner and a signal: it can sit alongside private lenders and equity providers in transactions, help shape funding structures, and demonstrate government-backed commitment to long-term growth in Wales.
