Chesterfield bids for Regional Growth Funds
Chesterfield Waterside and Markham Vale are in a Chesterfield bids for Regional Growth Funds backed by Sheffield City Region LEP.
The Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is to support eight bids. All the proposals aim to create employment and drive economic growth within the Region.
The LEP invited submissions for both ‘Projects’ and ‘Programmes’ when bidding to the £1.4bn fund opened in April, the key difference being that programme bids had to demonstrate a clear over-arching investment strategy and sustainable benefits for a specific geographical area, rather than for individual sites.
The LEP is to provide endorsement for four eligible Project bids and play a co-ordinating role for the Programme bids within the City Region (detailed below).
In addition, the LEP itself put forward two dedicated programmes of funding in order to launch an Employment Growth Programme to help small and medium-sized businesses expand and grow, and a Tech Accelerator Programme for start up companies with high growth potential, and which centre on the use of digital technologies and drive a culture of collaboration in the City Region.
The Programmes would see co-ordinated support given to smaller companies with the greatest potential for rapid expansion so as to lever in funding and support for their growth plans.
James Newman, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “We invited submissions which could demonstrate a significant contribution to the LEP’s objectives and priorities for the City Region and that, crucially, would contribute to economic growth and the creation of jobs and private sector investment.
“The LEP is delighted to offer its support to this clear and focussed group of project and programme submissions to the Regional Growth Fund, which we hope will meet with Government’s approval so as to lever investment into the City Region.”
The Project bids in Chesterfield being supported by the LEP are outlined below:
Chesterfield Waterside
This flagship regeneration project on the edge of Chesterfield town centre is bidding for £1.1m from the RGF, which would be used to bring forward the first phase of office development in Basin Square, the commercial heart of the wider £340m scheme.
Markham Vale
This scheme is bidding for £1.1m from the RGF to deliver the second phase of development on this key employment and industrial site at junction 29a of the M1. The £10m scheme would create office, industrial, manufacturing and warehouse space to support advanced manufacturing and medical technology sectors and the proposed Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone, if approved by Government.
