Lord Heseltine hosts regional RGF 'round 3' launch

Lord Heseltine, who chairs the national Independent Approval Panel for the £1bn Regional Growth Fund (RGF), was speaking at a regional roadshow event to launch stage 3 of the RGF and hosted by Plymouth University.

Lord Heseltine described the Plymouth University and Western Morning News Regional Growth Fund (PWGF) as; “…a classic example of an RGF bid and very successful in reaching out into business and creating jobs in the South West”.

Plymouth University and Western Morning News formed a partnership to successfully bid for £1M from the Regional Growth Fund to establish the Plymouth University and Western Morning News Growth Fund (PWRGF), which was personally launched by Business Secretary, Vince Cable last year.

In total, the PWRGF has received 75 applications ad awarded just over £914,000 in grants to local SMEs. It is so far estimated that the Fund has created over 90 new jobs in the South West. In addition, the Fund will lever a further £1.2M of private sector investment.

Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor of Plymouth University said; “We are committed to working in partnership with business and industry to support economic growth in the region, for example through GAIN, our regional innovation network. And so for us, the opportunity to work in partnership with the Western Morning News to bid in round one of the regional growth fund was a perfect opportunity to continue this work.”

The roadshow event, held in the Rolle Building on the Plymouth University campus, was aimed at businesses hoping to bid in round 3, as an opportunity to find out more about the RGF and the bidding process.