New Funding for Sci-Tech Daresbury

Sci-Tech Daresbury Enterprise Zone has been shortlisted to secure new funding which would enable the construction of the new Techspace building.

The zone is one of 12 across the country which has been earmarked to secure a share of a £100m infrastructure cash investment.

The zone has been shortlisted to receive up to £3.58m from the government to enable new infrastructure to be built to allow and small and medium-sized companies at Sci-Tech Daresbury to expand as they need to.

The proposals for Techspace were revealed in late 2012 with funding secured from the Regional Growth Fund for the project.

It is expected to create 750 new jobs. Currrently more than 100 high-tech companies are based at the enterprise zone.

Local growth minister Kris Hopkins said:

“The Sci-Tech Daresbury Enterprise Zone is a real hotspot for science and technology. We are now investing an extra £3.5m to ensure the zone has the infrastructure it needs to bring even more businesses to the area and allow the zone to fulfill its ambition of creating 10,000 local jobs in the next 20 years."

“This is part of our long term economic plan to back business and enterprise right across the country, and it will help Daresbury to prosper and create more jobs for its hardworking people.”

John Downes, director of Sci-Tech Daresbury’s joint venture company, said:

“The enterprise zone status at Sci-Tech Daresbury is a great example of how strategic government intervention can play a key role in economic regeneration through investment in major opportunities with high growth potential."

“Sci-Tech Daresbury is a joint venture between Langtree, Halton Borough Council and the Science and Technology Facilities Council and it is the effective working of this private/public partnership that has given the government the confidence to invest in Sci-Tech Daresbury because of its ability to deliver real results and drive the collaboration between high-tech business and government-funded science."

“We are delighted to receive this award of up to £3.58m from the Enterprise Zone Capital Grant fund. This comes on top of £7.36m of funding already approved from the Regional Growth Fund last year and both awards form part of a total investment package in the region of £30m that will commence on site at Sci-Tech Daresbury this year."

"We are very excited about our imminent investment proposals and there is no doubt that they will be a key milestone in the further development of the campus.”

Paula Cain, chief executive of Halton Chamber, added:

“This is tremendous news for Sci-Tech Daresbury, the Halton borough and also the region as a whole. There is no doubt that the partnership created by Langtree, Halton Borough Council and STFC, has been a resounding success, not least in its ability to secure investment through public funding and create additional jobs."

“This latest award is indeed testimony to the hard work that has taken place by all parties involved over a number of years as well as the degree of confidence that exists within government for the potential for Sci-Tech Daresbury to continue to deliver significant results in the future.”

Meanwhile universities in Manchester and Liverpool can also from today bid for part of a £15m fund to establish university enterprise zones. Proposals for university enterprise zones were first unveiled in December.

Source: North West Business Insider