Home Local News Lancashire Continues Search for Investment Opportunities Despite Eurostar Disappointment

Lancashire Continues Search for Investment Opportunities Despite Eurostar Disappointment

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Lancashire County Council has confirmed that it will continue to seek out good investment opportunities after the Lancashire County Pension Fund narrowly missed out in its bid to buy the UK Government’s stake in Eurostar.

The bid by the Lancashire County Pension Fund was the only solely UK–based bid to make it through to the final stages of the process.

Speaking on Wednesday, after the Government announced the outcome of the Eurostar bidding process, David Borrow, deputy leader of Lancashire County Council, and holder of the finance portfolio, said:

“We’re continually seeking secure investment opportunities that will ultimately benefit the pension fund and taxpayers alike.

“Eurostar was an attractive proposition because it is a sizeable yet secure long-term investment – the service is very reliable, demand is strong and there’s reason to believe those things will hold true into the future. We’re disappointed not to have won the bidding process but it’s very clear our bid made it down to the final stages of discussion and that we were competing effectively with bids from around the globe.

“Despite the obvious appeal of Eurostar as an investment, the Lancashire County Pension Fund bid may have been seen as a surprise of sorts – the fact is that the county council, which manages the fund, is leading the way in local government when it comes to securing its investments. We have for a long time had the scale of investments required to be in this kind of process, but only over recent years have we developed the expertise to know whether and how to go about it.

“Our strategy on investments is first and foremost to ensure the security of our assets which, as events such as Lehman Brothers and the Icelandic banking crash proved in the last decade, doesn’t mean simply putting money in the bank. We’ll continue to seek out the most secure investment opportunities we can find for the benefit of our local communities and members of the pension scheme.”

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