2013-02-25 — /travelprnews.com/ — Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership welcomes today’s launch of the Enterprise Zone Infrastructure Fund by the Department of Communities and Local Government. The £60m fund is being targeted at Enterprise Zones which have real short term growth potential and is aimed at unlocking key infrastructure projects.
Aerohub @ Newquay Cornwall Airport, which was described by Chancellor George Osborne as one of the strongest bids in the country when it was approved in August 2011, will be applying for funding to accelerate development projects that will achieve the global competitive edge needed to attract investors. The Aerohub bid for investment support from the fund will include future projects such as:
- Aerohub Business Park – opening up a 90 acre development site on the south side of the airport. Investment is required to provide roads and services to the site that could soon provide the largest planning free development zone in the UK.
- Hangars and other Business premises: development on the Airport and Business Park employment space to specific need from new investors from aerospace/aviation and other sectors.
- Technical Skills Centre: the delivery of an engineering and flight training centre of excellence.
These projects will allow Aerohub to realise its potential and could result in over 750 jobs on the Enterprise Zone by 2015, allowing for massive acceleration and expansion of the existing programme.
Chris Pomfret, Chair of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, said“This new fund is intended to bring forward infra-structure projects so that further development can take place more quickly. This should help us to build on the success we have had so far and enable more investors to move to the site, sooner and ultimately create more high value jobs for Cornwall. In particular we will be looking at the potential to accelerate the development of the Aerohub Business Park and associated transport links.”
Two investors have already relocated on the Enterprise Zone, the Classic Air Force opens its doors next month, and Ainscough Wind Energy Services, who intend to expand into the Aerohub Business Park once it is developed.
Miles Carden, Enterprise Zone Manager for Cornwall Development Company, explained“Our Enterprise Zone has already attracted a high quality pipeline of investor enquiries, but this funding would allow infrastructure to be put in place to make the site ‘oven ready’ for businesses to move straight in. Put simply it will allow us to do much more much quicker.”
The aerospace industry is worth around £20 billion* per year to the UK economy and the South West is one of the country’s most important regions for the industry. Aerohub, launched by the Minister of State for Business & Enterprise last year, is England’s only entirely aerospace focused Enterprise Zone on an operational airport and is the largest single development site in the South West.
Aerohub @ Newquay Cornwall Airport is being led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and Cornwall Council, as the owners of the airport and surrounding land. Cornwall Development Company, the Council’s arms length development company, has been commissioned alongside Cornwall Airport Limited, as the operator of the Airport, to deliver the project.