Regional Growth Fund Round
2
‘Bridging the Gap’
SME Growth Fund
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Insitute of Directors Update
Stuart Hill – Director, Solent LEP
18th July 2012
The Solent LEP
Board Membership – Private Sector
Doug Morrison
Port Directror, Port of Southampton
Chairman of Solent LEP
Russell Kew
Chief Executive, Wightlink
LEP Board member
Gary Jeffries
MD, Hughes Ellard
LEP Board member
Chris Allington
MD, Oxford Innovations
LEP Board member
Stuart Hill
COO, IBM Technology Services
LEP Board member
Philippe Jouy
MD, Warings Construction
LEP Board member
Ernie Battey
MD, Morgan Sindel Investments
LEP Board member
Steve Barber
Chief Executive, Xyratex
LEP Board member
The Solent LEP
Board Membership – Public Sector & HE
Councilor Ken Thornber CBE
Leader, Hampshire County Council
LEP Board member
Councilor David Pugh
Leader, Isle of Wight Unitary Authority
LEP Board member
Professor John Craven
Vice Chancellor, University of Portsmouth
LEP Board member
Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson
Leader, Portsmouth City Council
LEP Board Member
Councillor Richard Williams
Leader, Southampton City Council
LEP Board member
Councillor Sean Woodward
Chairman, PUSH
LEP Board member
The Solent LEP
Strategic Priorities 2011 - 2015
Five Strategic Priorities will drive economic growth in the region
1. Strategic Sectors – including Marine, Defence and Advanced Manufacturing
2. Enterprise – win and deliver the Solent Enterprise Zone Support for SME’s.
3. Skills for Growth - including apprenticeship and training initiatives
4. Infrastructure – improved transport, services, flood prevention, and broadband
5. Inward Investment – attracting new business to the Solent
The Solent LEP
Year 1 Successes
Solent Apprentices for Business – Lead Chris Allington
Not-for-profit organisation providing businesses with a simple and cost-effective way to
recruit high-calibre apprentices. Increase the number of job opportunities available to
young people and support the economic growth of business - particularly SMEs.
Solent Enterprise Zone – Lead Gary Jeffries
One of 24 Enterprise Zones in the country, with £2.94m soon to be available for SMEs
based on or moving to the Solent Enterprise Zone
Solent Growing Places Fund – Lead Ernie Battey
An £18million revolving (evergreen) capital infrastructure fund to unlock jobs and homes
Bridging the Gap – Lead Stuart Hill
A £2.1M SME ‘mini RGF’ Fund to drive growth and jobs in Start Ups and existing
businesses seeking to expand
Enterprise
The Solent LEP
Regional Growth Fund
RGF - Central Government £2.4B Growth Fund
Aims – GVA & Jobs
Deliver Sustainable private sector employment and economic growth in
areas historically over reliant on the public sector and
Leveraging private sector investment
Solent LEP Regional Growth Fund Success
Only 119 out of the 492 Round 2 bids received by Government were successful
7 winning bids were in the South East – o/w three were supported by the Solent LEP
The Solent is one of only three LEPs to be directly awarded RGF funding.
RGF2 Solent investment includes Bridging the Gap and over £5.5m to improve Platform Road in Southampton.
The Solent LEP
Bridging the Gap – LEP Lead Stuart Hill
The Solent LEP - in partnership with The News and the University of
Portsmouth - has secured £2.1M from RFG Round 2 to run our own
local ‘mini RGF’ which we have called Bridging the Gap
Opening up the large central fund to SMEs - Inviting bids between
£5,000 and £50,000
The ambition of Bridging the Gap is to create and/or safeguard private
sector jobs and to drive growth in 2 SME Groups:
£950,000 allocated as SME Start-Up Fund
£50,000 of which ring-fenced for Young Entrepreneurs
£950,000 allocated as SME Growth Fund
And to drive and leverage private sector investment in the areas
Bridging The Gap
Eligibilty
Geographic
Portsmouth (50%)
Gosport (40%)
Havant (10%)
Job Creation and Safeguarding jobs
Bring Private Sector Investment
SME Growth Fund (50%)
SME Start-Up Fund (30%)
Bridging The Gap
Bidding Process
1. Two stage bidding process – EOI followed by full business plan
submission
2. Support from The University of Portsmouth to assist in developing
full business plan
3. Marketing support from The News
4. Bid assessment by independent Investment Panel – consisting of
experts from all partner organisations, alongside banking sector,
FSB, Havant and Gosport areas.
5. No end date – Panel will meet on a regular basis to allocate funding,
but, submit your EOI early to avoid disappointment!
Bridging The Gap
SME Support for the Enterprise Zone
In addition to Bridging The Gap £2.1M for Portsmouth,
Gosport and Havant, we shortly launch:
The Solent Enterprise Zone Expansion Fund for Aerospace,
Aviation & Marine
A further £2.94m for SMEs based on, or moving to, the
Solent Enterprise Zone
Same challenge and evaluation process as Bridging the
Gap
Bids between £50,000 and £200,000
The Solent LEP
Apprentice Hiring Support for SMEs
Apprenticeship Grant for Employers – AGE
1.Wage grants to assist SME employers to hire an apprentice
2. Targeting 16-24 year old apprentices
3. Open until March 2013
4. Grant of £1,500 for wages plus contributions to the cost of the
training element of the apprenticeship
5. £450,000 in wage grants available to support 300 new
apprenticeships
3.Information available from the National Apprenticeship Service
For more details…
www.solentlep.org.uk