The government has today announced over £175 million of extra funding  for projects supporting Enterprise Zones. Announced as part of the government’s £2 billion growth deals, the funding will boost infrastructure and skills for many local areas.

As part of its long-term economic plan to secure Britain’s future, the Government today agreed a series of Growth Deals with businesses and local authorities across England.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister announced the first instalment of plans to invest at least £12 billion in local economies in a series of ‘Growth Deals’. The money will go towards providing support for local businesses to train young people, create thousands of new jobs, build thousands of new homes and start hundreds of infrastructure projects; including transport improvements and superfast broadband networks.

At MIRA Enterprise Zone near Hinckley, Leicestershire, growth deal funding will create a national skills training facility for transport engineering, providing 2500 training places each year to address skills shortages in this vital sector.

The Black Country Enterprise Zone will benefit from a major funding boost to improve road access to the Zone’s i54 business park, on junction 10 of the M6 motorway. The site is home to Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine plant, due to be completed this year.

Growth deal funding will also support site preparation works on the North East Enterprise Zone’s Swan Hunter site, a former shipyard and birthplace of such famous ships as HMS Ark Royal, the former flagship of the Royal Navy. Today’s funding announcement will help breath new life into the site, opening it up for new businesses in the hi-tech offshore energy sector.

Other Enterprise Zone projects that will benefit as part of the growth deals include an expansion of the Welding Institute at Alconbury Enterprise Zone, and a transport improvement programme for the Fareham-Gosport area, around the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus.