About us
The Industrial Development Advisory Board (IDAB) advises ministers on applications from companies proposing to start capital investment projects in the Assisted Areas in England and who have applied for regional selective assistance under the Grant for Business Investment scheme or the Regional Growth Fund.
The Industrial Development Advisory Board (IDAB) advises Ministers on applications from companies who are proposing to undertake capital investment projects in the Assisted Areas in England and have applied for regional selective assistance under the Grant for Business Investment (GBI) scheme or the Regional Growth Fund.
We are a statutory body that provides robust, independent, business advice to Ministers on large business investment decisions. The main focus of our work is large applications for investment support in England’s Assisted Areas, though we also look at a range of other projects where Ministers want a commercial view. We also look at relevant schemes of support in their development phase.
The Board has a long and distinguished history of service to successive Governments. It first met in 1972. We see the key objective of our role as ensuring that taxpayers’ support is given only to projects that truly merit it and that it represents best value for money.
Board members are chosen to provide a range of expertise from industry, banking and the wider community. All are experts in their field. Members are unpaid and give significant amounts of their time on a voluntary basis.