Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram says the target of the fund is to help create 2,000 new jobs across the six boroughs of the city region. Tony McDonough reports
A new £75m fund will be used to attract new businesses to Liverpool city region and support existing Mersey businesses in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram says the target of the fund is to help create 2,000 new jobs across the six boroughs – Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Halton – overseen by the Combined Authority.
The announcement comes less than 24 hours after the Combined Authority and the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership joined forces to set up a new ‘one front door’ agency for potential inward investors, called Growth Platform.
The £75m Business Growth Package will include:
- A £20m loan fund for local businesses to invest in creating jobs and boosting productivity.
- A £7m inward investment facilitation fund.
- £15m to support SMEs in the event of a No Deal Exit from the European Union.
- Intensive scale-up programme for tech-led and tech-enabled SMEs.
- Skills and apprenticeship training for up to 1,500 young people.
It will also make it easier than ever for companies in the Liverpool city region to access support, through Growth Platform to manage business growth, investment and sector development services locally.
Companies will be able to apply for support from late in the autumn. The support will be open to all businesses with a focus on high growth and technology companies. The money will be recycled wherever possible – ensuring truly inclusive growth is nurtured, so our resources can be used to support more businesses and create more jobs in future.
Speaking during a visit to the UK’s leading robotics integration company, CNC Robotics, Mr Rotheram said: “The Liverpool city region is the fastest-growing city regions in the country but I will not be satisfied until the benefits of devolution are felt in every community across our city region.
“Our £75m Business Growth Package – the biggest of its kind in 20 years – will help do just this by supporting ambitious local businesses to grow, creating more than 2,000 high-skilled, high-paid and secure jobs in this first phase, right across our six boroughs, helping mitigate against the potentially disastrous impact of a No Deal Brexit and attracting new businesses to our area.”