Business Secretary sees bright future for engineering, science and innovation in East Anglia
Vince Cable will see the breadth of engineering and manufacturing from one of the UK’s famous automotive companies when he visits Group Lotus…
Vince Cable will see the breadth of engineering and manufacturing from one of the UK’s famous automotive companies when he visits Group Lotus at Hethel. As well as seeing the production facilities and meeting apprentices, he will ride in the zero emission electric taxi. Lotus has been involved in the engineering of the hydrogen fuel cell that is used as a range extender in the famous London ‘black cab’.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
“Lotus is a great example of a UK niche vehicle manufacturer with a wow factor that is in demand across the world.”
“Through its cars, motorsport and engineering divisions Lotus makes a key contribution to the UK automotive sector and the wider economy through the exports of its iconic cars and its world-class design engineering consultancy.”
The Business Secretary will then go on to the Hethel Engineering Centre which supports high performance engineering companies and the wider manufacturing sector in the region.
His next stop will be to the Norwich Research Park (NRP) which received £26 million of funding in the Budget in March. The Business Secretary will open its new Innovation Centre.
Vince Cable said:
“I’m delighted to be able to open world class science and research facilities such as this, which will be vital to the UK’s economic growth and will help ensure our future competiveness.”
“This Innovation Centre will put Norwich Research Park firmly on the map as one of the world’s top science parks. Together with the investment from Government announced in the Budget, it underlines the importance of commercialising research and fostering relationships between academics and industry.”
Notes to editors:
- In the Budget in March 2011 we announced £100 million of capital investment in science. From this the Norwich research campus was allocated £26 million to expand their facilities. This will be used to establish facilities and infrastructure that will support the formation and expansion of both spin-out and start-up companies and attract science and technology based organisations to locate on the NRP. The NRP will become a gateway to facilitate commercial interactions between partners and commercial companies on the research park and the wider regional, national and international business communities. The result will be a magnet for researchers, new highly-skilled employees and inward commercial investment.
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Notes to Editors
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