After putting out an open call for bids in February, the LEP team and LEP Investment Group reviewed the bids against a series of criteria including job creation, deliverability of the project, value for money and consistency with the LEP priorities.
Their proposed shortlist was then reviewed and approved by the LEP Board, subject to the necessary due diligence processes and funding negotiations being completed.
The shortlisted projects are expected to lever a further £26million of public and private funding and unlock a total of 12,500 new jobs for the LEP area.
The LEP team, led by Infrastructure and Funding Lead Natalie Blaken, is now working with those promoting the shortlisted projects to carry out funding negotiations and due diligence, with formal funding announcements expected over the coming weeks.
Neville Reyner CBE DL, Chair of the LEP (pictured), said: “We are delighted to announce such a diverse range of shortlisted projects for Growing Places Funding ranging from space for businesses to set up and grow through to vital infrastructure priorities that are all currently held back due to funding constraints. The first round of Growing Places Funding has been specifically targeted at projects that can get underway within this financial year. Importantly, most of the schemes will be repaying the money provided to them over time so creating a revolving LEP capital fund that can in turn help even more projects get off the ground in the future.”
The shortlisted projects are:
- A1139 Fletton Parkway Improvement scheme, Peterborough
- Haverhill Research Park
- Ely Crossing
- The Future Business Centre (Social & Environmental Business Incubator), Cambridge
- Fenland Horticulture and Land based Skills centre
- Babraham Park and Ride
- Ashwell Business Park, Rutland
- Huntingdon Link Road
- Peterborough Southbank Regeneration Project – Phase 2
- Utility improvements for Northstowe
- Babraham to Abingdon Cycleway
Projects that met most of the criteria, but were not successful in receiving funding in this round have been invited to resubmit their bids for the next funding round, as the Growing Places Fund is intended to revolve through repayment of loans over the coming years, and potentially through additional funding from Government.
Alex Plant, Strategy Director for the LEP added: “This funding is being used for strong projects that can deliver quickly, and it is being used in a way that will create a sustainable revolving fund, building on the “loan not grant” approach adopted for previous successful projects such as the Addenbrooke’s Access Road. We look forward to making more detailed announcements about each of these schemes soon and getting these projects moving to unlock a significant number of new jobs and economic growth across our LEP area.”
Additional information
1. The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is focused on helping to drive forward sustainable economic growth in our area – with local business, education providers, voluntary and social enterprise sector and the public sector working together to achieve this.
2. The LEP area covers Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Rutland, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Uttlesford and North Hertfordshire.
3. The LEP Investment Group is a sub-group of the Board, made up of three Councillor Board Members and two business Board Members
4. The call for bids can be found online at: http://www.yourlocalenterprisepartnership.co.uk/gpf
5. Some of the short-listed projects will be able to secure funding from other sources – known as match funding – by virtue of being awarded Growing Places Funding. We estimate the additional funding leveraged to be £26 million.