News & Resources

UK automotive benefits from £300m RGF funding

10 Apr 2014

The results of the fifth and latest round of the UK Regional Growth Fund (RGF) have been announced, with the automotive industry securing a substantial slice of the £300 million funding on offer.

Eight companies representing the breadth of the sector have been selected for a share of the government RGF funding investment, which aims to create sustainable employment and growth for businesses across the country.

Business Secretary Vince Cable, visiting Millbrook Proving Ground – one of the automotive sector beneficiaries – said, “Our Industrial Strategy is creating stable foundations for a sustainable, long-term recovery in which opportunity and growth is fairly spread across the country. The Regional Growth Fund will help increase our exports, expand our capacity for innovation and drive up the quality and range of our skills base and supply chain.

“The awards we’re announcing today, like that of Millbrook, see every £1 of government funding leveraging in £6 of private capital. They will support sectors from aerospace and automotive to tourism, and the benefits will be felt into the mid 2020s and beyond.”

Professor Richard Parry-Jones CBE, Co-chairman of the Automotive Council, said, “As the UK’s vehicle manufacturing base continues to show strong growth, companies themselves need to expand to cope with increasing demand. It is therefore good to see a number of automotive businesses across the country being supported through the Regional Growth Fund. Encompassing commercial vehicle manufacturers, components suppliers, supercar manufacturers and vehicle testing facilities, the funding also covers a broad spectrum of the industry.

“By working closely with government through the Automotive Council, industry is committed to creating the best possible business environment to maximise its potential for attracting further investment.”

The following automotive companies were successful in Round 5 of the Regional Growth Fund:

  • Aston Martin Lagonda
  • Cummins
  • Gestamp Tallent
  • Maier UK
  • Millbrook Proving Ground
  • MTCE
  • TRW Systems
  • Sertec

Having started in 2010, the Regional Growth Fund is a government ‘pot’ which, through several rounds, has invested in hundreds of business projects countrywide.

With the sixth and last round of the Regional Growth Fund taking place later in the year, Business Minister Michael Fallon urged companies to put their names forward. “I’d strongly encourage any firms that can generate significant private sector investment and sustainable jobs to bid for a share of the next round we’re launching this summer,” he said.

More than £2.5 billion worth of investment into UK automotive was announced in 2013 – find out what some of them were, and much more, in SMMT Motor Industry Facts 2014.

This entry was posted in News & Resources. Bookmark the permalink. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.