Member Article

RGF bids are in for Black Country

The bids for Regional Growth Fund are in from Black Country businesses, as they hope to take advantage of round three of the fund.

It is estimated that if successful, more than £300m of investment and up to 5,500 jobs could be directly and indirectly created in the region.

The 16 bids, from businesses across a range of sectors, have been supported by a group led by the Black Country LEP.

In addition to individual bids from automotive, advanced manufacturing and environmental business, the LEP has also formed a joint-programme bid, which could benefit around 40 more companies from the region.

These firms’ smaller, individual bids would not have met the criteria for the funding stream, which requires applications of £1m.

Paul Brown, the Black Country LEP’s private sector lead on access to finance, said: “The LEP has worked closely with a number of private sector bids to maximise their chance of success and we are confident that all our bids are strong and meet the criteria.

“If successful we will be welcoming well over £300 million of investment into the Black Country.”

Councillor David Sparks, LEP board member and leader of Dudley Council, said: “I am pleased to see a number of applications have been submitted from companies in the Black Country and we are hopeful they will be successful and help create thousands of jobs for local people.

“Around 40 businesses from the region are involved in these bids which would safeguard around
3,500 existing jobs and create around 5,500 new jobs.”

A decision on the bids will be made by BIS in the autumn, and if successful, bids will undergo due diligence tests before the money is released.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .