Ten Staffordshire projects submitted for RGF funding

TEN key projects capable of sustaining the economic development of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have been submitted to the Government in the second round of bids for Regional Growth Fund cash.

The projects include road and infrastructure improvements, schemes to attract private investment, business park growth and manufacturing initiatives.

The bids have been supported by the area’s Local Enterprise Partnership.

In full, the projects bidding for RGF cash are:

•    ISE Estate Ltd at Beacon Business Park: Road and related infrastructure improvements will open up 4.5 acres of employment land together with a further 40 acres.  
•    Steelite International: Proposals for a new manufacturing facility to produce bone China.
•    North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce: Private sector investment to create jobs.
•    CERAM: A development programme for the area’s famous ceramics industry, in particular the new technologies which improve the energy efficiency of ceramic firing.
•    Moorland and City Railways: This includes the acquisition of a disused railway lines in North Staffordshire for the UK’s largest sustainable private railway network.
•    REALIS: A programme designed to boost inward investment and jobs in Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire.
•    Dunston Business Village: The business park, home to firms such as listed software company eg solutions, is bidding to expand facilities to attract further growth.
•    Etruria Valley: The site has been put forward for Enterprise Zone status and, if successful, there would need to be improvements to infrastructure.
•    Zytek: The manufacturer is bidding for funding to create a facility for the research, development, training and manufacture of advanced motor and control technologies.
•    Rapiscan: The company plans to establish a high technology factory in Biddulph for the production of x-ray equipment for the global security market.

The area was one of the main beneficiaries in the first round of RGF bids, with projects at Alstom UK in Stafford and Middleport Pottery both being approved.

The LEP board will be presenting the bids to Work Minister Mark Frisk when he visits Alstom tomorrow.    

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP chairman Maitland Hyslop said he was confident that the current bids would stand up to tough Government scrutiny.

“The LEP has been impressed by the business cases put forward by these companies. There is real entrepreneurial vigour in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire,” he said.