Advanced manufacturing benefits from latest £31m RGF settlement
BUSINESSES and other organisations in the West Midlands are to share in a £31m handout as part of the latest settlement of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.
The Round Five funding will be split between eight separate parties, with a strong focus on the region’s advanced manufacturing sector.
Among those to receive funding are: Aston Martin Lagonda, automotive suppliers Sertec – whose new Coleshill base was officially opened by Chancellor George Osborne in January – and Maier UK, Birmingham-based hydraulic components supplier HydraForce and the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce will receive funding, while the funding support issued through Bournville College and Trinity Mirror Midlands – recognised in an earlier round – has been topped up. Disability support body Sense and Sense International in Birmingham has also been recognised.
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock will make the formal announcement today during a visit to Birmingham signage firm Hollywood Monster, a recipient of funding in an earlier RGF settlement.
The funding announced today brings the total amount of RGF cash committed to the West Midlands so far to £430m and the number of projects supported to 69. The Government has said the funding will help to create and safeguard around 114,000 jobs in the region over the next decade, while triggering £3.3bn of private sector investment.
The latest settlement alone is expected to raise £200m of private investment and create and safeguard up to 4,000 jobs.
Matthew Hancock said: “News that companies and projects in the West Midlands have secured £31m is a real vote of confidence for the region. This builds on the £400m already committed from earlier rounds of the competitive fund which are helping leading businesses to grow and create vital new local jobs.”
Nationally, £119m has been committed, supporting 37 companies from a range of industrial sectors. A further 13 RGF intermediary programmes, both regional and national, have been awarded £182m to support small businesses.
Andy Street, chairman of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Partners and businesses in the GBSLEP have traditionally been successful in terms of accessing RGF investment and it is pleasing to see this continue.
“You don’t have to look far to see how RGF has benefitted Greater Birmingham.
“The soon-to-be-completed runway extension at Birmingham Airport will have a profound impact on the regional economy. RGF has also been key to the ongoing growth of JLR directly and indirectly through the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.”
