Jobs hope with Lancashire Enterprise Zone bid
8:00am Monday 11th March 2013 in News
LANCASHIRE is set to bid for a share of a new £59m government fund set up to help accelerate work on Enterprise Zones.
The bid would fund work to improve the infrastructure of the Lancashire Enterprise Zone site at Samlesbury, including improved access from the A59.
Lancashire's Enterprise Zone is based on the two BAE Systems sites at Samlesbury and Warton, with the intention of creating up to 6,000 highly-skilled jobs by attracting companies in the advanced engineering and manufacturing sector.
Edwin Booth, chairman of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, said: “I welcome this new funding pot which could certainly help us to accelerate our plans.
“We're hopeful that the government will look favourably on our bid given the strong progress we've already made in preparing for businesses to set up in our Enterprise Zone.”
In spite of being one of the last Enterprise Zones to be approved, Lancashire's is now one of the most advanced in the country, with significant interest from businesses, a master plan in place, and approval for local development orders.
There are currently 15 companies considering the Enterprise Zone as a location for their business, having signed non-disclosure agreements to enable detailed talks to take place about their specific requirements.
Work on developing the Samlesbury site is due to begin later this year, with companies beginning to move in during 2014.
