Defence Online

Treasury and MOD Launch Private Investment Sprint

Homeland April 24, 2026

The Ministry of Defence and HM Treasury have launched a joint sprint to attract private investment into the UK defence industrial base, announcing the expansion of the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group and a new Defence Finance secondment programme to embed financial sector expertise within government.

The announcement was made on 22 April 2026 by Defence Secretary John Healey and Chancellor Rachel Reeves at a meeting of the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group, which brings together leaders from UK banking, venture capital and strategic finance to advise ministers on investment priorities.

The Ministry of Defence-led sprint will examine how private capital can be leveraged to accelerate defence readiness, drive innovation, and support supply chain resilience. HM Treasury and UK Government Investments will support the exercise. In parallel, the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group has been placed on a permanent footing, signalling a long-term partnership between government and the financial sector. A new Defence Finance Zig-Zag secondment programme will see industry secondees join the Ministry of Defence, bringing private sector perspectives directly into procurement and investment decision-making.

The announcement builds on a series of recent government initiatives aimed at broadening defence’s investor base. These include a first-of-its-kind ministerial meeting with venture capital firms in 2025, a Dragon’s Den-style event at which innovative British defence firms pitched directly to institutional investors, and a bespoke £20 million fund offering accelerated contracts to small British start-ups with limited or no previous Ministry of Defence business. The search for the UK’s next defence unicorn is now framed as a core objective of the Defence Industrial Strategy.

Cathal Deasy, Global Co-Head of Investment Banking at Barclays and a member of the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group, said the measures are intended to build a long-term framework for partnership between defence, industry and finance, delivering clearer priorities, improved engagement routes and modern delivery models to attract private capital at scale. He noted strong client appetite to invest in UK defence, and highlighted opportunities around modernising the defence estate, energy systems and supply chain resilience.

For suppliers, the sprint signals an increasing role for venture capital, strategic finance and banking in defence procurement, particularly for dual-use innovation, infrastructure and digital capability. The announcement supports the government’s wider commitment to increase defence spending to 2.6 per cent of GDP from 2027, with a total budget of £270 billion over the Parliament. Companies should review engagement routes through the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group and the £20 million accelerated contracts fund.

UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

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