Liverpool City Region Business Expansion Programme aims to deliver new jobs, and support SMEs across the City Region.
Government has today (Friday, 19 October) announced a number of successful Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bids including a £10milion bid by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LCR LEP) for a City Region Business Expansion Programme.
The Programme will provide direct financial support to businesses that have the potential to grow and create new jobs.
The money will be able to provide direct assistance to businesses on the basis of £1 of support for every £5 of investment by the business. The Programme builds on LCR LEP’s focus on Key Growth Sectors of the economy and will be especially applicable to smaller and medium sized businesses who are looking to grow, create jobs, and export.
Robert Hough, LCR LEP Chair, commented: “We are delighted that Government has approved our bid. It will benefit businesses that want to grow and will allow us to create employment in the City Region. The LEP itself is not a cash recipient of the funding but did put together the bid, and it is down to the support we have from our Members that we are able to bid for this type of fund.”
Robert added: “It is essential that we unlock private investment and to do this we need to have something to offer that will support both local projects and attract inward investment. The £10million awarded will provide a huge boost to the local economy, and will allow us to really make a difference to economic development, creating jobs and providing growth in the areas which need it most.”
Asif Hamid, Chair of the LCR LEP Business Growth and Enterprise Board, explained: “The LEP recognised that because the RGF has a minimum bid threshold of £1million, many small and medium sized businesses were unable to bid. In response, we put together a bid that could support such businesses who are seeking between £100,000 and £750,000 to invest in capital plant and equipment that would allow them to grow. We know there are businesses looking for this type of support and we have put together an innovative Programme that meets their business needs.”
The LCR LEP itself is not a cash recipient of the funding but worked with Partners and Local Authorities to develop the City Region Business Expansion Programme bid.
Mike Palin, LCR LEP Executive Director for Strategic Economic Development, said: “Going forward we will be working with Government to make this money available to businesses as quickly as possible. At the same time, we’ll be working within the City Region with businesses to identify those in need of this support so that as soon as it is available, we can hit the ground running. We’ll soon put in place a process by which businesses can apply.”
The Regional Growth Fund is a national fund administered by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The process of bidding is competitive and over 400 bids were submitted nationally seeking over £2billion of funding. The LCR LEP bid is one of a number in the City Region that were successful.
The announced funding is conditional on the undertaking of a due diligence process with Government and it is unlikely that money will be allocated before summer 2013.