SMEs in two Midlands areas will see a £357M government cash injection to boost growth potential in the region.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, yesterday signed a Growth Deal for Birmingham and Solihull to support economic growth.
While in Birmingham, Clegg visited precision valve manufacturer HydraForce, which received an award of over £1.8M from the government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).
The Growth Deal will help to deliver at least 13,000 jobs, allow up to 4,000 homes to be built and up-skill 7,633 people by 2021, as well as generating up to £80M in public and private investment.
Clegg said: “Growth Deals are about local areas leading their own growth, giving more power to people in the regions so we can work together to build a strong economy and a fairer society.”
Growth Deal in detail
- Investing in growth in Greater Birmingham and Solihull, including station improvements at Snow Hill, major maintenance of the Tame Valley Viaduct, phase two of the Hoobrook Link Road to improve accessibility of the South Kidderminster Enterprise Park, a growth and regeneration programme in East
- Maximising the benefits of HS2, including station improvements between New Street and Moor Street, extensions of the Midland Metro, a Bus Rapid Transit scheme from Birmingham City Centre to Quinton and walking and cycling improvements in Birmingham city centre.
- Enhancing growth sectors, and supporting and growing businesses, including new courses to improve skills capacity in the automotive supply chain and life sciences sector, a Solihull Aviation Engineering Training Centre to develop maintenance and repair skills, the Skills Excellence Hub in Birmingham for food technology, the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Technologies at Birmingham Metropolitan College, the Advanced Manufacturing Hub and a Life Sciences Campus.
