Local organisations working with small firms around the Solent area, including the Isle of Wight, will now be able to apply for a share of £30million funding from the latest round of the European Regional Development Fund.
The funding will support innovation, boost businesses and create jobs across local economies and bring benefits to the wider area that will be felt beyond the area’s boundaries.
The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and other local partners will play a key role in shaping how the money is allocated and invested.
Local Growth Minister James Wharton said:
“This funding will give the area a chance to contribute more to the national economy and unlock local potential. It will ensure we can build local economies that will have a big and real impact on people’s lives, delivering more jobs, more opportunities and a better future for all.
“We want local partners to come forward with how they want to use this money to drive forward their economy. As part of our long-term economic plan this money will provide a big boost to businesses and help create numerous jobs locally that will also benefit people living in towns and villages nearby.”
Anne-Marie Mountifield, Chief Executive of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said:
“The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership area’s plan for growth is driven by the needs of our businesses and community. The funds this area is getting from the new programme will play an important part in delivering on our ambitions. Having agreed the local priorities for using these funds and moving our economy forward, we can now get on with spending it on the best projects that deliver growth and jobs in the Solent.
Article continues below this advertisement The development of higher level skills and supporting SMEs with high growth potential is particularly important to improving productivity in the Solent. We would strongly encourage Solent based organisations to look at opportunities to support programmes with this European funding, as local knowledge will be essential to maximising the impact these funds will have.”
Around the country £5 billion is being made available from the 2014 to 2020 round of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund to fund these local projects.
The new programme is built form the local priorities of England’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnership areas who know best what is needed to boost growth locally. All funding decisions will be taken within this framework.
The Partnerships priorities that could benefit from the funding include supporting sector development and enterprise and developing the workforce within the Solent.
The main priorities of the European Regional Development Fund programme are research and innovation, supporting and promoting small to medium sized enterprises and the creation of a low carbon economy.
