Coventry-Warwick Gigapark gets £23m investment to attract business

Coventry-Warwick Gigapark has secured a £23m investment to attract business. The announcement was part of the detailed plan to deliver the West Midlands Investment Zone today (Friday).

Those behind the zone believe it will be able to attract more than £5.5 billion of private investment and more than 30,000 new jobs. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board, which met in Wolverhampton this morning, agreed a delivery plan which will combine a combination of tax incentives, direct funding and business rate maintenance for the area.

The plan focuses on driving growth in advanced manufacturing, green industries, health technology and underlying digital technologies. The Investment Zone itself will cover the whole of the West Midlands, but will be powered through three specific sites, with tailored funding and incentives for businesses set up there.

READ MORE: Fee paid for Coventry waste collection service ‘subject to price increase’

READ MORE: The council is making a huge splash on Coventry’s new paid for garden waste service

The Coventry-Warwick Gigapark at Coventry Airport will be anchored by a new battery gigafactory and associated businesses and technologies. The site will receive tax incentives, maintenance of business rates and £23m of investment for land rehabilitation, infrastructure and connection to the electricity grid.

The other two locations are the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter and the Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor. The Birmingham site stretches north-east from Birmingham City and Aston universities through Duddeston and Nechells to Aston.

The quarter will provide tax incentives, business rates retention and receive £9m of investment for public works and active travel infrastructure to help attract investment. The Wolverhampton site will create new green industries and skills through a partnership between the city council and the university, with £7m investment in land remediation and key infrastructure.

Laura Shoaf, Chief Executive of the WMCA, said: “The Investment Zone is already attracting significant private sector investment and, following the implementation of this delivery plan, will have the potential to attract billions of pounds more as well as tens of thousands of new jobs. These jobs are essential because this area of ​​investment needs to be as much about people as it is about business.

“That is why our delivery plan includes a comprehensive skills program so that local people can get the jobs created, especially those in new technology-based and green industries. the support of our local councils, universities and the private sector is the need for this area to bring inclusive economic growth to every corner of our region.

“We believe the area can do this by promoting the technology-based and low-carbon industries of the future, while attracting leading companies from around the world.”

In approving the area’s first-year delivery plan, the Council was told that by getting the development off the ground, there is the potential to retain around £1.5bn of business rates over the area’s 25-year life – money that can be reinvested. in the region instead of going back into government coffers. That reinvestment would also be used to maintain a comprehensive business and skills support programme, which will be set up in the first 12 months using £19m of £160m of government funding allocated to the West Midlands over the next 10 years.

These programmes, which will support priority sectors and complement the region’s wider skills and business support activities, include:

• £5m in supply chain adaptation – to help companies maximize new opportunities in the Investment Zone
• £5 million in research and development (R&D) grants.
• £5 million for Levels 4/5 and other skills training so local residents have the skills to meet increased demand from high-tech investment
• £2 million to promote the area and accelerate investor interest
• £2 million to help develop innovative companies alongside angel investors, building on existing regional programs

The West Midlands Delivery Plan has been developed at pace with considerable support from the region’s public, private and academic sectors, following the government’s official launch of the area in April this year. The area has the potential to attract over £2bn of new investment to the regional economy initially and a further £3.5bn over its lifetime, creating over 30,000 jobs by 2034.

The delivery plan will now be submitted to the Department for Leveling, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for final agreement before funding is released. This morning’s WMCA Council meeting in Wolverhampton Civic Center was also the first attended by Warwick District Council following its decision to join the WMCA as a non-constituent member.

The council is a key partner in the Coventry-Warwick Gigapark site in the area, part of which is within its boundaries.