Investing in our own people

Last Thursday we hosted an invitation-only half-day conference, in partnership with a major international bank.

The event, which focused on the challenges and complexities associated with financing the future of offshore wind, brought together a fantastic collection of people, most of whom subscribe to this service.

And what was particularly interesting to note throughout the presentations, the panel discussions and the multitude of conversations taking place around the room, was that when you dipped below the surface, the focus wasn’t really about finance at all.

Rather, it was about the people, the connections and the personal relationships. That was what really mattered most.

In fact, it was this broader theme – namely, the ability to build relationships, reputations and trust within a rapidly expanding market – that was returned to again and again throughout the morning.

For the financiers and investors of course, it’s these relationships that remain key to future industry innovation, learning and growth. And it is these relationships that will have a longer-term implication on the ability to de-risk the market and cut costs.

For the manufacturers, developers and utilities, it’s a similar story. For too long, they’ve been told that there’s insufficient capital within the markets, that the investment isn’t there and that there’s little appetite to invest.

Put simply, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The capital is there. The financiers are indeed ready to invest and the opportunity remains. The challenge is in unlocking the right funds and deploying what we’ve got.

That’s a challenge that can only ever be tackled by building a direct link between the city and this growth area of the energy markets. A link that is built one relationship at a time and that moves investors out of comfort zones and encourages them to share the risk.

As an industry, we’re already building out the supply chain, increasing policy support, investing in the technology and the grid connectivity and beginning to champion the wider cause.

Perhaps now it’s time to invest in our own people – promoting the good and weeding out the bad. After all, it’s the human capital that really makes this market tick.