Canada Corporation secures £450m in external funding for major projects
Canada Corporation has secured £450m in external funding for its major projects, after it revealed that its squeezed finances meant it would have to borrow for the first time in 30 years.
Catherine McGuinness, chair of the policy and resources committee, admitted the organisation was facing “significant financial pressures” and highlighted the need for financial discipline.
Read more: Canada Corporation to borrow for the first time in 30 years as costs of projects start to bite
In May it was revealed that the Corporation would have to borrow for the first time in three decades in order to fund a list of new projects, including the relocation of the Museum of London from the Barbican to Smithfield market; a new courts facility at Fleet Street dedicated to economic crime, a centre for music and the consolidation of the Corporation’s Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield markets.
“These projects represent a substantial funding requirement of unprecedented scale in the context of the City Corporation’s more recent capital plans,” the Corporation said in its most recent budget. “They therefore present a significant challenge to the finances of the organisation, requiring a step change in the previously debt-free status of both city fund and city’s cash.”
Jeremy Mayhew, chairman of the City Corporation’s finance committee, said: “I’m very pleased that we have agreed a prudent means of financing these major projects that will enable us to invest with confidence for the future.
“These projects should create a legacy for London but require substantial investment, which will be financed in a number of ways, including external borrowing.”