EAST Lancashire is to bid for up to £10million of Government cash to create 1,000 new jobs a year, it can be revealed.
Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, the body charged with stimulating the area’s economy, is putting the finishing touches to an ambitious bid for money from the regional growth fund (RGF).
Whitehall, led by Lord Heseltine, have put £950million up for grabs in the second round of funding, with priority set to be given to places with a high concentration of public sector jobs.
Regenerate bosses hope that will put East Lancashire in the box seat for a bumper grant.
They want to land between £5million and £10million which would be used to create up to 3,000 jobs in the next three years.
Under the proposal, Regenerate would operate a holding ‘bank’, with high-growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) bidding for grants to invest and expand.
Managing director Steve Hoyle said: “The Government has made clear that the priority is short-term job creation and the minimum threshold for bids is £1million.
“We are going to submit a bid for more so that companies that might want to apply for a grant of less than that can still get some money.
“It has been made clear that bids from areas with a high concentration of public sector jobs will be given priority so we hope we meet that criteria.”
Regenerate must submit the bid by July 1. However, bidding will be competitive - ministers said the first round of RGF cash grants was oversubscribed 10 times.
East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Mike Damms said: “We know it will be competitive but giving our small and medium-sized companies the grants to create growth is a good idea.”
Earlier this year Regenerate said its strategy for the next three years would involve targeting SMEs, the businesses most likely to create the growth East Lancashire needs.
The area is losing 2,500 ‘traditional’ manufacturing roles every year as technology improves and emerging economies, like China and India, grab a bigger share of the market.
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