A former boss of British Land, the FTSE-100 property company, is to become the first head of Britain’s national infrastructure bank.

Sky News has learnt that the Treasury plans to name Chris Grigg as chairman of the new institution on Friday.

City sources said that Mr Grigg’s appointment would be followed by a search for its inaugural chief executive.

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced in his budget in March that the UK Infrastructure Bank would receive £12bn in initial state funding as well as a further £10bn in government loan guarantees.

The new lender is intended to “play a key role in delivering on the UK’s Net Zero commitments and levelling up across the country by co-investing alongside the private sector in vital infrastructure projects, like transport, renewable energy and digital connectivity”, according to a previous Treasury statement.

It will be headquartered in Leeds.

Mr Grigg, who stepped down as British Land’s chief executive last year, is a logical choice for the UK Infrastructure Bank’s chairmanship, having been involved in its design since December.

He also sits on the board of BAE Systems, the defence contractor, as a non-executive director.

Labour has criticised ministers for failing to be sufficiently ambitious with the scope of the UK Infrastructure Bank, arguing that it will be far smaller than comparable institutions in countries such as Germany.

The Treasury declined to comment on Wednesday, while Mr Grigg could not be reached for comment.

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