Thousands of jobs promised after nine sites win RGF cash

PLANS to turn the former Royal Eye Hospital in Manchester into a biotech centre will be financed by the Government’s new Regional Growth Fund (RGF) along with eight other North West projects that promise to create or safeguard 5,500 jobs.

But the winning bids represent just 10% of the 89 applications from the region that sought a share of the £450m available in the RGF’s first round. The total value of the grants was not disclosed.

The Government unveiled the 50 winning bids this morning saying they will directly create or safeguard 27,000 jobs and support a further 100,000 in associated supply chains. It hopes the £450m – the first round of the £1.4bn fund – will attract a further £2.5bn in private investment.

In the North West the winning bids are:

• The conversion of the Royal Eye Hospital into a biotech centre, submitted by a partnership of Manchester City Council, property developer Bruntwood and Manchester Science Parks.
• Development of a training centre at Bentley Motors in Crewe for the recruitment and training of manufacturing employees.
• Establishment of a new high-tech manufacturing plant with research and development at composites firm Tygavac in Rochdale.
• Investment in facilities at Kirkby-based Ames Goldsmith, which supplies silver nitrate to the photographic, mirror and electronics industries.
• The development of a new factory, research and development laboratory, and headquarters for heavy machine tools business Holroyd Precision in Rochdale.
• A project to stimulate SME growth through media advocacy run by the Liverpool Echo as an 18-month campaign in which it will run competitions to provide grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to SMEs together with mentoring and coaching.
• A new headquarters for advanced manufacturer Mono Pumps in Ashton Moss. Submitted by Muse Developments.
• Funding for a new off-line sputter coater at St Helens-based glassmaker Pilkingtons that will allow it to produce more efficiently.
• The Mersey Multi-Modal Gateway (3MG) freight park in Widnes submitted by Stobart Group, ProLogis and Halton Borough Council. The council said it had received £9m.

Across the North West 24 bids were submitted from Greater Manchester, 11 from Warrington and Cheshire, seven from Cumbria and 32 from the Liverpool city region. A further 15 were not local enterprise partnership (LEP) related.

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities is understood to have requested funds totalling £50m for projects such as Hatton Gardens in Stockport, Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale, Port Salford as well as Ashton Moss and the eye hospital scheme.

The RGF was set up to mitigate the impact of the closure of the regional development agencies and support the creation of private sector jobs in areas heavily reliant on the public sector for employment.

In a statement business secretary Vince Cable, pictured, said: “We have received a large number of ambitious and highly competitive bids to this first round of the Regional Growth Fund, which will help a number of businesses across the country to expand and create thousands of new jobs.

“RGF is a competitive fund and we wanted to see proposals that created jobs in the private sector, in areas of deprivation and that is at risk of suffering from public sector cuts. I’m confident that the successful bids we have chosen will deliver on this.”

Across England there were 464 bids worth £2.78bn. The scale of this demand prompted the Government to increase the cash available from £250m to £450m.

Mike Oglesby, chairman of Bruntwood, said: “We are delighted that we have received funding from the Government in order to secure the development of this exciting new biomedical centre [the eye hospital]. This will be a world leading facility attracting investment into the UK, providing space for university spin-outs as they grow on from their incubator facilities. And most importantly creating vital employment in Manchester.”

Darran Lawless, development director at Muse Developments, said: “We can confirm that Muse has been successful in securing the initial approval from the RGF with regards to further expansion at Ashton Moss, which is great news.  The details are commercially sensitive at this time but the funding will assist in delivering an occupiers need for expansion on a major strategic employment site at Ashton.”

Richard Butcher, deputy chief executive of the Stobart Group, said: “Stobart Group has already demonstrated its commitment to develop opportunities for jobs in the Halton region and also to deliver sustainable transport solutions for the future. Securing this funding is an important step to ensure those objectives continue to be met.”

See how RGF bids fared in Yorkshire and the West Midlands.