Coalition Government investing in East Midlands - Phil Knowles - East Midlands Policy Officer
Originally published by East Midlands Liberal Democrats
The Coalition Government scheme that has already created or safeguarded 17,000 of jobs in the East Midlands opened a new round of bids on Thursday, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has announced.
Round four of the Regional Growth Fund will be worth £350m of investment to create jobs and growth across England.
East Midlands Regional Policy Officer Councillor Phil Knowles has called on businesses in East Midlands to bid for a share of the Regional Growth Fund, which has already helped to create and safeguard jobs across the region.
Commenting, Phil Knowles, who is Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harborough District Council said:
"The Regional Growth Fund is an important part of the Liberal Democrat efforts in the Coalition Government to build a stronger economy in a fairer society.
"Already the Regional Growth Fund has I understand made a real difference in East Midlands. I'm told for example, GE Measurement & Control (Druck), Groby secured £4.17 million from Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund to create 65 new jobs and protect 214 jobs at the company. Thanks to the funding, which has leveraged a further £15 million in private sector investment, the firm will employ the new staff to work in their research and development facility in Groby.
"While Labour went on a prawn cocktail offensive in the City of London, they forgot to invest in the rest of Britain. By investing in jobs and growth in East Midlands, Liberal Democrats are rebalancing the economy to end our over-reliance on financial speculators in London and give areas like ours a fair share of investment.
"I will be working as hard as I possibly can with business in Leicestershire to ensure we get the best out of the Regional Growth Fund and create sustainable jobs now and in the future."
Commenting further, Nick Clegg said:
"The Regional Growth Fund is already proving a shrewd investment by providing a welcome boost to jobs and growth across the country, with thousands of jobs created and businesses expanding into new markets and manufacturing new products.
"With this next round of funding, I would urge England's budding businesses to produce top quality bids to access the money that can help them grow.
"There'll be stiff competition, and we can only invest in those projects that will lead to sustainable jobs and the best value for money. Boosting jobs and growth is our number one priority for Britain right now.
"That is why I am so pleased to be opening a fourth round of the Regional Growth Fund which supports growth across a range of industries."
The Regional Growth Fund
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £2.6bn fund operating across England from 2011 - 2016 and for every pound of government money, the private sector is putting in six pounds.
The Regional Growth Fund has already helped 180 projects get started. This has helped economic growth and has leveraged over £13 billion of private sector investment, creating or safeguard over 500,000 jobs.
Round four of the Regional Growth Fund will close to applications on 20 March at noon. The minimum threshold for Round four applications will be £1m. SMEs can get support through successful RGF programmes. For more information on how to apply please visit www.gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund
An expression of interest event will be held in Nottingham on 25 February
The Regional Growth Fund works with the Coalition Government's Industrial Strategy; supporting local priorities, creating jobs and enabling private sector investment for the long term. The Regional Growth Fund overlaps with key sectors in the Industrial Strategy including automotive, aerospace, energy and life sciences.
Case Studies in East Midlands
Molecular Profiles, Nottingham
£1.6m Regional Growth funding (RGF) is helping Nottingham based, Molecular Profiles triple the capacity of its research and development centre by creating a new manufacturing facility, analytical labs and office space. Molecular profiles provide pharmaceutical development, clinical trial manufacturing, advanced analysis and consulting services for the pharmaceutical industry worldwide.
The building programme is planned in two stages and stage one, the construction of the building shell is already complete. A total of 17 new local jobs have been created so far and this number is expected to rise to over 60 over the next few years.
Dr Nikin Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Profiles said:
"The Regional Growth Fund award has been crucial in providing our company with the platform for significant growth. The creation of a new pharmaceutical development and manufacturing facility with this award has tripled our capacity, created new jobs and increased our ability to compete internationally."
GE Measurement & Control (Druck), Groby
GE Measurement& Control in Groby secured £4.17 million from Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund to create 65 new jobs and protect 214 jobs at the company. Thanks to the funding, which has leveraged a further £15 million in private sector investment, the firm will employ the new staff to work in their research and development facility in Groby.
Dr Roger Jones, Director of Druck Ltd (GE Measurement & Control) said:
"The support we have received from the Regional Growth Fund was pivotal in securing the remainder of the investment for this project to go ahead in the UK. We will now be expanding our product range for aerospace with leading edge new pressure measurement technology and we are developing an innovative new flow measurement instrument for the oil and gas industry. We will also be establishing an apprenticeship scheme and training academy for our employees."