Minister showcases RGF as he opens Molplex lab
CHIEF Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has visited one of the firms benefiting from Regional Growth Fund cash.
Cheshire-based Molplex, which is based at the Biohub at Alderley Park, received a £1.2m grant from the fourth round of the RGF, and Mr Alexander conducted the official opening ceremony for a new laboratory to develop new drugs for cancer, resistant bacteria and personalised medicine.
Molplex’s neighbours at Biohub, Redx Pharma and Absynth Biologics have shared more than £5m in funding from the fifth round of the RGF. In total the three business will be creating more than 250 high value jobs, the Treasury said.
Molplex alone is creating 127 jobs as a result of its £4.7m investment in expanding its Optiplex system – an Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory System.
Mr Danny Alexander, said: “The government’s Regional Growth Fund is helping create thousands of quality jobs, stimulate private sector investment and rebalance the economy.
“I am thrilled to see that the people of Cheshire are to benefit. Companies like Molplex, Redx Pharma and Absynth and the people that work there are helping us to build a stronger economy and a fairer society for this generation and the next. Through the RGF, companies commit to creating jobs and investing in their regional economy in return for government funding.”
He said that so far £460m of RGF money had been invested in businesses across the North West, helping to create 98,000 new jobs as companies have committed to investing an additional £2.5bn.
The latest round of bids – Round 6 – guarantees at least a further £200m of funding nationwide. There have been 40 bids totalling £149m from regional firms.
