Two Liverpool universities set to receive multi-million pounds worth of investment towards a brand new high-tech facility.

Liverpool University and Liverpool John Moore are due to be receiving £5m toward a new £15m facility for companies specialising in sensor technologies.

The cash injection into the new enterprise zone comes as George Osborne announces £34m for North West rail and road projects for the North West also in a speech at the IFB.

The transport package is part of the Atlantic Gateway project, which is set to create 250,000 jobs in a series of developments between Manchester and Liverpool by 2030.

Named ‘Sensor City’ the facility will help inventions develop from the lab to the factory floor and act as a shop window for foreign investment into the city’s hi-tech start-ups, according to The Business Week.

Funding includes

• A £10.4m upgrade to the Halton Curve rail line to improve connectivity between Liverpool, Cheshire, Warrington and North Wales.

• £5.6m to improve access and road safety around Knowsley Industrial Park.

• £4m of improvements to A5300 Knowsley Expressway to maximise the benefits of the New Mersey crossing and access to Liverpool Airport.
•  A £14.4m upgrade of the car parking and public transport connections on the Newton-le-Willows rail interchange link to Parkside.

The Chancellor said:

“Today I take the next step to build a Northern Powerhouse. I said we would back key infrastructure and science. Today I do that with £35m in transport upgrades for the Atlantic Gateway and a new university enterprise zone in Liverpool”.

Provost professor Stephen Holloway, who led the bid from the University of Liverpool, said: “Creating a new space where ideas from our sensor research laboratories can be transformed into new start-ups is a very exciting prospect for both Universities and provides great opportunities for our students and staff.”

Robert Hough, chair of the Liverpool City Region local enterprise partnership, said:

“We have always stressed the economic potential of the city region acting as a freight and logistics hub for Atlantic Gateway and the wider North and are therefore encouraged that this package recognises the importance these specific schemes to support that development.”

He added:

“The Sensor City initiative will provide the necessary platform for the universities to work closely with business, industry and other organisations to share expertise and knowledge in the field of sensors that will drive forward innovation on both a local and global scale and which will in turn create jobs and boost growth.”

Source: The Business Desk