Auto industry boosted as part of £124m RGF settlement for region

PROJECTS supporting the manufacturing sector and the automotive industry in particular are the main beneficiaries of the latest round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund settlement for the West Midlands.

The Government has allocated £124m in its Round Three settlement for the region. The funding, which is set to pave the way for around £1,300m of investment from the private sector,  is split between 16 projects and is set to either create or safeguard almost 44,000 jobs.

Automotive heavyweights Jaguar and Aston Martin share in six of the projects. For Jaguar, the funding is being used to support continued expansion of production and the upskilling of workers, while for Aston Martin, much of the money will be designated for the development of new models and a more fuel efficient engine.

Coventry-based Bladon Jets, which has been working with Jaguar on the development of jet turbines in conjunction with its C-X75 supercar, is another beneficiary. Its settlement will be used for further development of its micro-gas turbine generator and automotive range extenders.

Cab Automotive in Tipton has won backing for its project to acquire a freehold on its manufacturing facility, while Wolverhampton’s Turner Powertrain Systems has been selected because of its expansion plans, which involve the construction of a new factory.

Dana UK Axle in Birmingham has won funding to increase production capacity, while Nuneaton-based Robert Bosch will use its funding to invest in training and research into its powertrain systems.

Pailton Engineering in Coventry has been selected so it can progress research and development into new components for steering systems.

Away from automotive, Stoke’s Goodwin has won support for plans to construct a new apprentice training school on a brownfield site. The funding will also help towards the extension of a foundry.

BRM Packaging in Wolverhampton plans to refurbish a food packaging facility, with investment in tooling and thermoforming equipment.

Elsewhere, Wedgwood (WWRD) in Barlaston is creating a centre of excellence for ceramic manufacturing, while the University of Wolverhampton has secured backing for a scheme to provide grant funding to SMEs.

The RGF money is also being split between four Local Enterprise Partnerships to help with various projects.

In the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area the funding is towards a programme to strengthen and develop supply chain SMEs with a focus on, but not limited to, the green economy.

In Sandwell there will be a programme to administer grants to companies primarily involved in the advanced manufacturing sector.

In Coventry & Warwickshire the RDF programme is to extend an existing ERDF programme, while in the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce area the money will go towards providing grants for capital expenditure such as premises, infrastructure and machinery.

Elsewhere in manufacturing, funding is also being supplied to Rolls-Royce for a business development, training and mentoring scheme for approximately 30 UK suppliers in the aerospace industry.

Business Secretary Vince Cable, left, told TheBusinessDesk.com the government was pleased with the RGF and said there was a possibility of a fourth round could be made available.

“We don’t need a fourth round at the moment as it will take some time for this latest round to come through, but we’ve got an open mind as to whether the programme should continue, we’ll see over the next couple of months.”

He added: “There are still some very serious problems in the economy – we’ve not had growth for quite a long time, serious problems remain in the banks, in our main export market. Our great strength though is that we are financially stable and the employment position has held up remarkably well.”

Asked about Labour’s criticism over the impact of RGF on delivering jobs and economic growth, he said: “I think the criticsm misses the poimnt somewhat, these are predominantly private enterprises, and while there have been some delays, which is inevitable ion a programme of this size,  for ever £1 of money we’re putting in it’s leveraging £6 of private sector investment.
 
The Government said that as a result of the latest round of financing it expected the job creation targets to be met within five years, within investment targets scheduled for the next decade.