A number of companies in Liverpool City Region have bid for a slice of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative Fund (AMSCI).
The Government Fund of £100million was based on an existing £25million Regional Growth Fund (RGF) bid by a group of Local Enterprise Partnerships (featuring Liverpool City Region, Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire and Greater Birmingham and Solihull), which focused on supporting automotive and aerospace supply chains in those geographical areas.
Alan Welby, Executive Director – Key Growth Sectors, Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said: “The bids received from across the City Region is extremely promising and shows the strength of the Advanced Manufacturing sector here. It is a testament to the partnership working between Liverpool City Region and the three Midland LEPs that this Initiative came to fruition. We will now see the fruits of that hard work though the number of projects that will emerge as a result of this funding.
The AMSCI Fund will enable successful projects to create globally competitive supply chains in sectors such as aerospace, automotive chemicals and low carbon.
Alistair Poole, Managing Director NGF EUROPE Limited and Local Enterprise Partnership Board Member commented: “Our Advanced Manufacturing sector is a vital part of a rebalanced economy producing long term sustainable and resilient growth. The AMSCI Fund will help create and sustain supply chains in the industry and jobs of the future, while attracting further investment.”
Currently employing 53,000 people and producing £2.7billion output the growth of the Advanced Manufacturing sector is central to the LEP’s vision of creating a thriving economy. This means more readily available, appropriately skilled people; growing the supply chain; encouraging and supporting business start ups, and exploiting new technologies, all of which will enable the region to compete on a national and international scale.
Alan continued: “Our emerging strategy for the Advanced Manufacturing sector aims to make the LEP area a world-class city region by focusing on a number of priorities we can really deliver on. These include setting up a private sector led Manufacturing Forum; identifying skills gaps and how future Apprenticeship schemes can be tailored to the manufacturing sector, as well as working with partners, including Government, on a framework to understand the key issues faced by manufacturers in the City Region.”
Successful bids from the regional fund and the first round of the national fund will be announced in September 2012. There is a second round for the national fund which is now open and closes at noon on 12 September.