Staffordshire businesses urged to apply for second round of Growing Places cash

BUSINESSES looking to grow and expand by taking on new staff have been urged by Local Enterprise Partnership leaders in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to apply for kick-start funding from a Government scheme.

The LEP said projects which may have stalled during the economic downturn could be reignited through the second round of the Growing Places Fund, which opened this month.

Around £3m has been allocated to the Stoke & Staffordshire LEP. Under the terms of the fund projects will be assessed, and loan allocations will be made by the LEP. The funding could be ready for pump priming into the area’s projects by spring 2013.

Successful projects have to demonstrate they will generate economic growth in a short space of time with the right infrastructure in place. They will need to show that they are ‘shovel ready’, will create jobs or housing and provide returns which can be reinvested locally by the LEP, in addition to attracting further private investment. Projects will complement the LEP’s red carpet approach to attracting investment to the area.

Round one saw £8.5m allocated to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire for projects which included housing development in Hanford, an employment site in Cannock, a business park in Stafford and new office space in Newcastle among others.

LEP Sites & Infrastructure chairman, Ron Dougan, said assessment of applications would be stringent as it was vital for the local economy and wider communities that the criteria were met.

“Successful applications will need to demonstrate that they can deliver the very best for our area,” he said.

“The fund centres on stimulating projects which may have been lacking the essential infrastructure such as building development, link roads or other communications.

“The standard of applications in Round One was very high and we expect the same again this time. It will be a tough but important task for board members to make the decisions on which projects go forward to the Government as we have to make absolutely sure they will work and can be up and running as quickly as possible.”

He said the LEP’s top priority was to see thousands of new jobs created in the area.

The closing date for applications is Friday October 12.