Contact details

contact email address politicodaily@aol.co.uk

Thursday 12 February 2015

Lib Dems deliver a further £297m in regional businesses

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is today announcing a further investment worth almost £300m to help local businesses grow. As part of the sixth round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), 63 new projects and programmes across England will receive their share of £297m. 

The funding will drive business expansion and is expected to unlock £1.5bn of extra private sector investment. It will also help create thousands of jobs. Businesses across all industrial sectors will benefit, with £1.1bn being investing in manufacturing, £364m in automotives, £100m in aerospace and £104m for low carbon enterprises.

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is exected to say: "After decades of regional economies being neglected I set about investing directly in local businesses via the Regional Growth Fund. This investment has allowed regional businesses to be more ambitious than ever before and gone a long way in creating a stronger economy.

"A stronger economy means providing equal opportunity for everyone across the UK, rather than solely relying on the city of London to bolster UK business. The success of the RGF is proof that putting money in the hands of local businesses helps them flourish and creates opportunities for more people to work locally."

Since the RGF was launched in 2010, £2.85bn has now been invested in regional companies, helping them to expand and take on more staff.

Commenting on Nick Clegg's announcement the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "We have invested more than £1.1bn in British manufacturing businesses outside London to grow and create jobs in sectors spanning aerospace, automotive, low-carbon and chemicals. Today’s investment supporting businesses will boost British manufacturing, exports, and opportunities to innovate, impacting companies positively for a decade and beyond.”