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The UK government revealed Friday that its first investment zone for advanced manufacturing will be in northern England, under its so-called “levelling up” policy to boost growth outside London. bulletin news
South Yorkshire, including Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley, will be the first of 12 planned investment zones and aims to support 8,000 jobs by 2030, said finance minister Jeremy Hunt.
The scheme, first announced in Hunt’s budget earlier this year, seeks to invest around universities and clusters of high-growth industries such as advanced manufacturing, life sciences or green industries.
The South Yorkshire hub, which will feature the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, will leverage more than £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) of private funding.
“Our first investment zone is a shining example of how we will drive growth across the country,” Hunt added.
South Yorkshire has secured £80 million for a portfolio of research and development projects which will examine the future of aerospace and is backed by US giant Boeing.
Hunt hailed the scheme for “bringing opportunity into areas which have traditionally underperformed economically”.
Under the plan, each investment zone will be backed with £80 million of support for a range of interventions which could include skills, infrastructure and tax relief.
“Levelling up” proposals helped the governing Conservatives win swathes of formerly Labour party seats in northern England at the last general election in 2019.
The Tories maintain it is about spreading investment and industry across the UK, particularly in post-industrial areas, rather than concentrating wealth in southeast England.
But plans for its implementation were sidetracked by the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.
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