£2.7 million jobs boost for Wakefield
Simon Hughes MP visits Harvard Engineering to see progress of the company’s £22 million expansion project at its site in Wakefield.
Simon Hughes, Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties
Simon Hughes, Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties, has today (16 October 2014) visited Harvard Engineering to see progress first-hand of the company’s £22 million expansion project at its site in Wakefield.
Harvard Engineering – which designs and manufactures lighting products – was awarded £2.7 million through the government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The investment is enabling the business to bring 306 new jobs to Wakefield in a four year period from October 2013 and has safeguarded a further 50 jobs.
The Minister today toured the company to see how the cash from the RGF is helping to boost jobs and growth across the region with a new centre that will increase their design and manufacturing capacity.
Mr Hughes said:
The Regional Growth Fund is a helping hand from government to create thousands of jobs that last, boost the private sector and re-balance the economy.
I am thrilled to see that the people of Wakefield are to benefit. Companies like Harvard Engineering and the people who work there are helping us to build a stronger economy and a fairer society for this generation and the next.
Through the RGF companies commit to creating jobs and investing in their regional economy in return for government funding. So far £280 million of RGF money has been invested in businesses across Yorkshire and Humberside, helping to create 63,000 new jobs as companies have committed to investing an additional £1.7 billion.
Across the country the RGF has funded private sector projects which will create 573,000 jobs, with the government committing to invest a total of £3.2billion nationally, attracting £16 billion of investment from business and industry.
The latest round of bids – Round 6 – guarantees at least a further £200 million of funding nationwide that will create thousands of jobs and further fuel our recovery. This round has seen 174 bids across the country totalling over £800 million – with 14 bids totalling £68 million across Yorkshire and Humberside.
Ministers are visiting companies around the country today following a meeting of the Local Growth Committee chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg this morning.
Notes to editors
The government’s Regional Growth Fund is a £3.2 billion fund designed to help companies in England to grow. So far £2.9 billion has been allocated to support projects and programmes committed to deliver sustainable jobs and economic growth. For more information, please go to RGF page.