LEP invests £5m in advanced manufacturing centre

A hi-tech centre to promote advanced manufacturing know-how in Nottingham will receive £5m from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.

Construction on the University of Nottingham’s Institute of Advanced Manufacturing, which will be located just off Derby Road, near the University’s main campus in Nottingham, is due to be completed by the end of next year.

It will aim to deliver world class facilities for training, and teaching and research in advanced manufacturing; producing highly skilled graduates to benefit the local and wider economy.

Building the Institute will cost around £23million, with £18.1m coming from the University of Nottingham and £5m from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund – a sum which has just been agreed by D2N2’s Infrastructure and Investment Board.

The new Institute will create 8,000 sq m of research and training space.

It is anticipated that it will create dozens of jobs in its first five years; as well as helping manufacturing businesses in the LEP area and beyond, with expertise to address their technical issues and aiding them in the bringing forward of new products.

David Ralph, chief executive of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “This will be a world-class facility to promote advanced manufacturing in the D2N2 LEP area and the wider economy.

“The new Institute will align with the Government’s desire for a new industrial strategy, in key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, and with the ambitions of D2N2’s own programmes; to enable area companies to innovate, create new products and grow. This is something we are also pursuing through the use of our European funding.

“In addition, the University’s project will help the area attract talented people and retain skilled graduates.”

Planning consent for the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing was granted by Nottingham City Council in April. The project’s main contractor is GF Tomlinson.