Food For Thought.
The LEP area produces 25% of the nation’s vegetables and processes 70% of its fish. The LEP is developing three Food Enterprise Zones, with Growth Deal funding supporting all three. Holbeach is set to be the new home of the University of Lincoln’s agri-food technology specialism.
New Life Batteries.
The LEP led a bid with the University of Warwick, Coventry City Council and the West Midlands Mayor, to secure Coventry as home to the £80m UK Battery Industrialisation Centre that will help the UK become a global leader in battery technology.
Supply Chain Opportunities.
The BC LEP aims to create the conditions for enterprise to flourish, resulting in greater economic prosperity across the Black Country. The area is an economic sub-region, housing over 1.19 million people, hosting 463,000 jobs and generating £21.7bn GVA per annum.
Cyber Security.
This is a joint public/private sector initiative to create the UK’s first dedicated hub to support the growth of new cyber security businesses. The park is a key strand of economic growth for the region thanks to Growth Deal Funding of £22m.
More Loans To Business.
The LEP reviewed its Growing Places Infrastructure Fund to increase its risk profile to make loans more attractive to businesses in Swindon & Wiltshire. The LEP has loaned £1.2m to safeguard and support 200 jobs and has a loan target of £8m for 2018/19.
Space Park Takes Off.
The LEP has invested £12.88m in Space Park Leicester to develop a global hub for space research, learning and innovation that will create 200 high tech jobs and 10 new businesses in Phase One.
Curing Cancer.
The LEP is supporting the UK’s first dedicated Centre for Cancer Immunology. The £25m worldleading facility will drive innovation in immunology research, strengthen the life science cluster and secure Solent as a global centre of excellence for new therapies that will cure cancer.
Intellectual Property.
Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP joint-funded a project with the Intellectual Property Office to embed intellectual property in the LEP’s innovation and business growth offering to GBS-based companies, focused on realising the value of their intellectual property as a catalyst for innovation and growth.
Aerospace Take Off.
The LEP led a consortium to raise £32m for a permanent structure to host the Farnborough Airshow. This strengthens the show’s impact on the UK Aerospace sector, with orders worth $124bn – £12 billion of which flows through the UK’s SME supply chain.
Town Transformation.
Kirkstall Forge, in Leeds, received support from the LEP and Combined Authority to develop brownfield land into a sustainable urban village, with a new railway station and thriving businesses. One company, Zenith, is reinvesting in the region, sponsoring our MIPIM delegation and creating jobs.
Growth Initiatives.
The LEP worked with business and local authority partners to establish a single economic strategy, underpinned by a £1bn growth programme, which will deliver over 10,000 new jobs by 2020.
Infrastructure Investment.
The LEP helped drive two visionary skills projects for the region. The National College for High Speed Rail is training highly skilled engineers for the railways of the future including HS2, and Rotherham University Centre will provide higher level qualifications aligned to employers’ requirements.
Nuclear Opportunities.
The LEP is leading a cross-LEP and business partnership, Nuclear South West, to maximise the development of Hinkley Point C and generate £55bn of nuclear opportunities for the area over the next decade.
Boosting Mechatronics Engineering.
The LEP has invested in advanced engineering robotics training facilities to meet the future demand for engineers. It is part of the HEAD into engineering partnership creating an educational pathway between schools, colleges, employers and training associations for prospective engineers