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£21 million of Leeds City LEP grants to create nearly 3,000 jobs

A reported 2,985 jobs are expected to be created after Leeds City Region LEP granted businesses in the region a total of £21.2 million.

This funding has supported 305 businesses to expand and invest in new equipment and to create jobs as a result.

Of the total, 78% of grants allocated have gone towards businesses in the manufacturing sector.

This comes out of the £25.7 million of funding available for the programme of which £21.2 million of that has been committed.

The Business Growth Programme has been running since February 2013 and through the LEP’s Local Growth Deal with government, has been extended for another three years from April 2015 with a further £18 million secured.

Jet2, Harrison Spinks, Wakefield’s Union Insurance and Seabrooks, as well as LBBC Engineering are some of the businesses that have received money through the programme.

Henry Rigg, programme manager for the Leeds City Region LEP told the Yorkshire Post: “The funding is there to accelerate business investment that might have been put on the back burner.

“We only give 10 or 20% contribution to an investment project because we want to see a business case for where the rest of the money will come from.

“We support businesses that are already growing and wanting to invest. We don’t give money to firms that are in trouble to bail them out.

“We have to do a lot of due diligence to make sure a business is secure and solvent.”

“Most investment schemes have tended to favour the manufacturing sector because that is where capital investment is most needed.

“Manufacturing is a large sector in the Leeds City Region with 140,000 employees, exporting products and innovating so this money will have a positive impact on the industry.”

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