Local MP Caroline Dinenage has hailed Gosport’s dual success in winning Regional Growth Fund bids.
The Government has today announced that two separate bids submitted by the Solent LEP will receive RGF support to boost jobs and the economy in Hampshire.
One bid will see £2.1 million poured into local small and medium businesses through a distribution fund publicised by the Portsmouth News, an idea first suggested by Caroline Dinenage at a meeting with the newspaper several months ago. The second bid will see a further amount directed to the Enterprise Zone on the Daedalus site, for the development of the airfield and to support maritime and aviation businesses onsite.
Caroline, who has long campaigned for the South East to receive greater Government support for business, has expressed her delighted at the news. It comes following a debate Caroline held in Parliament earlier in the year to highlight the long-term Government failure to help business growth in the South. She said:
“This is fantastic news for Gosport and the whole region. The prevalent view of the affluent South has disguised pockets of real deprivation for too long, and I am glad that this Government has recognised the need for investment. Both the bids were visionary and constructive, and will bring a much needed boost to jobs and innovation in the area”.
“Gosport will continue to face substantial challenges, but the success of these bids and the location of an Enterprise Zone at the Daedalus site hails a new dawn for growth and employment in the Gosport area”.
The two successful bids are gaining a part of the £950 million that will be distributed by the Government in the second phase of the Regional Growth fund allocation. This is predicted to generate £6 billion in private sector investment, and create 37,000 direct jobs and a further 164,000 through the supply chain and boosts for local economies.