Short of funds and long on dreams, a British town starts a bank

LONDON: You smell Warrington before you see it – thanks to the huge Unilever NV plant that cranks out scented laundry detergent by the tonne. And if you blink, you may not even see it at all.

But there’s a reason to pay attention. This commuter town midway between Liverpool and Manchester is conducting an experiment in banking that may provide a post-Brexit road map for cities struggling with twin declines in lending to small businesses and funding from the national government.