A year of achievement
Since our widely-praised economic summit last October, we have been working with local, regional and national partners and stakeholders to secure our region’s recovery. We’ve funded vital work to safeguard Herefordshire’s tourism industry for example, and awarded Shropshire Council £737,000 and Telford & Wrekin Council £404,000 for innovative schemes to help our market towns get back on their feet.
Key schemes which have progressed over the last year include the Oswestry Innovation Park, work to regenerate communities in Telford and the pioneering Midlands Centre for Cyber Security in Hereford.
Our investment of £14m of Getting Building Fund money in six schemes across the region will help create up to 800 new jobs when they are most needed and our Marches Growth Hub business support service has been a lifeline for thousands of businesses throughout the crisis.
We’ve invested in skills – such as our support for the new automotive engineering centre at Shrewsbury Colleges Group, the launch of the new Marches Careers Hub and the innovative NMITE campus in Hereford – and have won independent praise for the work of our Skills Advisory Panel.
Our work has also helped fund innovation across the region – notably at Ni.PARK in Newport where we have provided £7.4m of Local Growth Fund support, and our enterprise zone at Skylon Park which has benefitted from £18m of investment which will create more than 2,000 jobs.
And the Telford Land Deal – our innovative partnership with Telford & Wrekin Council and Homes England – continues to deliver new jobs, industrial land and housing opportunities.
We’ve continued to drive investment and support for the green technology and energy revolution which will help us reach carbon zero targets and protect us all from the impact of Climate Change. Projects such as the Integrated Construction Wetlands scheme in Herefordshire, a scheme to retrofit renewable energy sources in Telford and the success of firms such as the Ludlow Brewing Company in accessing grants to boost their green credentials are all testament to our work.