MIRA set for £7.4m share of Enterprise Zone funding
A MIDLANDS Enterprise Zone is set for a share of a £23m funding pot from the government to help it sustain job creation schemes.
Growth Minister Kris Hopkins will visit the MIRA Technology Park Enterprise Zone today to announce it has been awarded £7.4m of government investment.
Mr Hopkins is set to reveal that the money being pumped into the Hinckley site will be used for infrastructure improvements.
The investment is part of the government’s long term economic plan to pump £23m into infrastructure schemes to help create jobs in Bristol, Manchester, Norfolk and the Leicestershire/Warwickshire/Staffordshire/Derbyshire area straddled by MIRA.
The funding is not new, rather the remaining part of a £550m package of support for Enterprise Zones to complete critical ‘nuts and bolts’ infrastructure that will turn sites into prime economic land.
The move is seen as a response by the government to the scathing report earlier this month by the Public Accounts Committee which suggested Enterprise Zones have only created about 10% of the jobs the government said they would by 2015.
The PAC report also claimed that only around 10% of the government’s promised funding for EZs had reached its target by last year.
In an official press release today, a bullish Mr Hopkins said: “Enterprise Zones are showing that our long term economic plan to secure a better future is spreading businesses, jobs and skills training across the country.
“Today’s cash injection will give four zones the raw ingredients to make their sites a stronger, more competitive business environment that will attract new jobs for hardworking local people.”
MIRA, formerly a small government-funded research centre, is slowly evolving into one of Europe’s most advanced transport technology facilities, attracting major overseas investment from manufacturers keen to take advantage of its excellent research facilities.
The long-term aim is that the technology park will employ more than 2,500 people by 2021.
“It will be fascinating to see MIRA, 60 years on, developing the kind of ground-breaking technology that is putting the UK at the forefront of automotive research and development,” added Mr Hopkins.
George Gillespie, CEO at MIRA, said: “We are delighted to be receiving this funding, which will help us to create more jobs within the immediate area and continue to build on the success of the park. To date, MIRA Technology Park has created 250 jobs and attracted big global tenants such as Haldex, Bosch Engineering, Lockheed Martin and Ashok Leyland.
“The funding will also enable us to continue to create a centre of excellence, maintaining our position as the heart of Europe’s automotive research and development community.”
The 1.75m sq. ft. MIRA Technology Park was granted Enterprise Zone status in August 2011 and aims to be Europe’s most advanced independent transport technology facility.
Government figures claim that since their start three years ago, EZs have created over 9,000 jobs, attracted over 300 businesses and secured £1.2bn of private sector investment.
