Member Article

£2.5m awarded to Farnborough International Limited for redevelopment

£2.5 million awarded to Farnborough International Limited for redevelopment of airshow site

Enterprise M3 funding will help increase business tourism revenue in Hampshire and Surrey

Enterprise M3, the Local Enterprise Partnership for the wider M3 corridor from the New Forest in the south west to Staines in the north east, today announced it has awarded £2.5 million from the second round of its Growing Enterprise Fund to Farnborough International Limited (FIL).

The funding will be used to construct 5,000 sqm of flexible building units which can be configured on an event-by-event basis to suit users’ needs. These buildings will be initially used for the 2014 Farnborough Airshow but the plan is that, following this, the airshow suite will be able to host an increased number of events, leading to a growth in business tourism revenues in Hampshire and Surrey.

Commenting on the award, Shaun Ormrod, Chief Executive of Farnborough International Ltd, said: “This funding is a really significant step in the delivery of our strategic vision for the Farnborough International Airshow. The developments will not only create world-class facilities for our aerospace customers during the airshow, but also a unique exhibition and event venue in the South East stimulating new business, employment and growth for the region. We are grateful for the commitment and support from Enterprise M3 and very excited to be able to offer our clients these new options.”

Geoff French, Chair of the Enterprise M3 Board, said: “I am delighted to announce that the Enterprise M3 Board has approved another project to receive funding from the Growing Enterprise Fund. This project is a very exciting example of what both the private and the public sector are doing in the Enterprise M3 area to stimulate long-term economic growth. In our Strategy for Growth, the LEP has identified four key priority areas – enterprise, skills, innovation and infrastructure – that we will be working in to deliver economic growth in the Enterprise M3 area. FIL’s successful bid focuses on enterprise, bringing as it will additional revenue from business tourism.”

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