In October, we convened the Perseus User Needs & Impact Advisory Group, co-chaired by Barclays and Icebreaker One.

Date: 8 October 2025 10:00-10:30 BST

Location: online

Co-Chairs: Gavin Starks, IB1; Claire Reid, Barclays 

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims

  1. Update AG1 members on recent workshops
  2. Sentiment check on market opportunity
  3. Sentiment check-in re use case / pilot participation

Summary

It was noted that:

  • The Perseus roadmap will work to build from financing green to greening finance, enabling broader market engagement across debt finance and related incentives
  • UK green lending is (anecdotally) estimated to be around £1 billion per year, with potential to grow substantially (multiples) with a low-friction, personalised approach (which Perseus helps enable)
  • The Perseus Sandbox is now live: vendors can integrate within a single (2 week) sprint
  • A briefing on potential corporation-tax incentives is being drafted to open a conversation with HMT
  • A conversation has been initiated with the FCA to discuss knowledge-sharing between the development of Open Finance programmes and the lessons-learned through the Perseus programme.

Building on the recent Working Group, Members discussed market segmentation and target focus:

  • Build on the British Business Bank baseline/framework example
  • Focus on priority intersection: high emitters + data-ready + under pressure to report now [see attached Venn diagram]
  • Avoid language that could be perceived as critical of SMEs
  • Align with government industrial strategy sectors
  • Address positioning, motivations and incentives (e.g. cost savings, efficiencies, net zero)
  • Balance the risk of over-narrowing focus to high-emitters only, with long-term impact at scale (e.g. immediate priority is for clear, rapid case studies).

In financial product innovation, it was highlighted that:

  • Sustainability-linked loan volumes are stagnating due to high cost and compliance burdens
  • Automated reporting can support reducing friction, improve accuracy and unlock growth
  • FSPs have indicated that addressing both electricity and gas could address ~80% of their use cases
  • EDPs include provisioning of national smart meter programme data as well as data via building management systems (e.g. in corporate real estate)
  • A survey was issued to gauge the market opportunity for FSPs.

For use cases and implementation:

  • Members agreed the need for published use cases and case studies by year-end
  • Two banks are actively developing examples.
  • A survey was launched to assess:
    – CAP readiness for sandbox integration, and
    – FSP capacity for case study delivery by December.