An extra £53m is being invested in the West of England region to boost technology projects.
The Growth Fund Deal 3 funding follows the successful £230m Growth Fund 2 last year.
“This £53 million Growth Deal 3 funding provides the opportunity to enhance our programme of priorities”
Projects that are set to benefit from the new funding include the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems which would see a purpose built facility at Bristol and Science Park (see artist’s impression above), a 3200 sq m Quantum Innovations Factory, also at the Science Park, and an Aerospace Innovation Hub called iAero on the former airfield at Filton.
The cash could also support the Bristol and Bath Science Park Grow on Centre (GO2), which would see a new office and hybrid lab/workshop in a 5,000 sq m building, as well as a SouthWest Food and Drink Innovation Centre across five acres of land at Weston-Super-Mare for small Incubator food-grade business units and Product Proving units.
The decision on which projects will be funded will be made by the LEP after further evaluation of each business case. The previous £230m Growth Deal funding is being matched by £180m of additional investment from local partners and companies.
Bristol and Bath Science Park: One of the innovation centres in line for possible investment
“Through the previous Growth Deals we have already delivered projects including the completed Weston College Future Technology Centre and the University of West England Bristol Robotics Lab, alongside many other exciting projects coming soon,” said Stephen Robertson, Chair of the West of England LEP. “Having outperformed the expectations for job growth and match funding agreed with Government, this £53 million Growth Deal 3 funding provides the opportunity to enhance our programme of priorities.”
The West of England economy is worth over £33 bn a year and the West of England is a net contributor to the national economy, returning £600m to the Treasury each year, the only region outside London to do so. Previous Growth Deal funding has played an important role in attracting further funding and creating new opportunities in the region.
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