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Clegg announces Regional Growth Fund projects


The Regional Growth Fund will create or safeguard thousands of jobs over the long term, benefit 130 projects and leverage £6 billion of private sector investment, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has claimed.

The bidders have been selected from among 414 applications bidders and will be putting in £6bn of their own cash to fund the 130 projects. The funding will help manufacturers, small businesses and local partnerships to expand their businesses, create new jobs and stimulate growth. This is expected to create or safeguard 240,000 jobs over the long term, the Department for Business, Skill and Innovation (BIS) has said.

Around £697 million of the funding will go to over 100 companies in the private sector. A further £358 million will go to local authorities and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), ensuring that funding gets to the right parts of the country.

“This £1 billion boost for growth in towns and cities across England is creating jobs that will last in the parts of the country that need it most," said Clegg. "I have seen for myself the real difference this makes on the ground – from iconic businesses like Eddie Stobart expanding in Widnes and creating 3,450 jobs in the local area, to the Sunderland car parts factory, Unipres who have used their funding to buy a new 3,000 tonne press, letting them accelerate production and take on an extra 316 people," he said.

“The Regional Growth Fund is creating the long-term growth and jobs that this country needs," said Business Secretary Vince Cable. "The projects support important local priorities and there is a good alignment with key sectors in our Industrial Strategy including automotive, aerospace and life sciences."

The first two rounds of the funding created or safeguarded 300,000 jobs, the majority of which will be added over the next five years, BIS said.

“Round 3 created a lot of high-quality demand for the fund which made the decision process very tough. However the selected bidders represent a good breadth of different sectors and a strong distribution across the country," said Business Minister Michael Fallon. “The selection process has been very fast - from companies applying to allocating funds in only five months. So we are keen to get a move on which is why this time, those selected have now only three months to agree final offers, and three months to complete due diligence. We want to ensure good value for the taxpayer and to get these projects started as soon as possible."

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