WARRINGTON Council’s investment in Redwood Bank is going from bad to worse, say opposition Lib Dems, with an updated report on the situation on the agenda at the Cabinet meeting next Monday.
Liberal Democrat Opposition Finance Spokesperson Cllr Ian Marks says: “Back in 2017 the Council invested in a one-third stake in the newly formed Redwood Bank. This was no doubt inspired by the investment in the so-called ‘Bank of Dave’ by Dave Fishwick, an entrepreneur in his hometown of Burnley. Its purpose was to support local businesses when traditional banks were turning them away.
“The Council invested £31m and gained access to a banking licence with the laudable objective of helping local businesses. At the time, the then Leader of the Council Lib Dem Group was quoted in the press as saying that his Party had concerns because the risk to the Council outweighed any benefit to local businesses. Since then, we have consistently said in public, on many occasions, that we believe this was a bad investment.
“There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the Council did not have the necessary expertise and skills to be involved in a bank. Secondly, it surprised us that the ruling Labour Group was comfortable investing in a family concern where one member of the family was the biggest donor to the Conservative Party in 2009 and gave other substantial sums to them in later years. Although not realised at the time, it also turned out that our External Auditor did not have the expertise to audit a bank, which is the main reason the Council has fallen so far behind in getting its accounts audited. In addition, over the years, there has also been some concern about whether sufficient of the bank loans have been to local businesses, as was first envisaged as the main benefit to the town.”
Liberal Democrat Cllr Bob Hignett adds, “One of the key objectives of the Ministerial Envoys, called in after the publication of the Best Value Review of the Council, was to reduce the total debt by getting out of commercial investments like Redwood Bank. In April 2026 an agreement was made to sell our shares but this has fallen through for reasons that are not yet clear. However, the Council has admitted that there has been an over-reliance on optimistic savings and income assumptions, which may have made the shares less attractive. Substantial sums have been paid out on legal and professional fees that cannot be recovered.
“Another deal is now on the table and due diligence is taking place. However, we suspect that the loss will be huge and even greater than it would have been with the first deal earlier this year. There will be another set of costs for professional advisors. The Council and Envoys have made great play that there would be no ‘fire sales’ but this sounds exactly like a ‘fire sale’ to us. What a sorry and costly state of affairs for the people of Warrington!”
Earlier this week Warrington Worldwide reported on how the sale of shares in Redwood Bank had collapsed.
