The UK Government has declared a total package of £4.5 billion in support for various key industrial areas.
The automotive sector will be the largest recipient with £2 billion earmarked for supporting the industry’s transition to zero-emission vehicles. A further £975 million will go to the aerospace sector to support investment in the development of low-carbon aircraft technologies.
The Green Industries Growth Accelerator will receive £960 million. This will be used to encourage the development of strong supply chains for clean, domestically produced energy across the country. This could be used to support initiatives like the HyGreen Teesside green hydrogen project of BP, the maker of the Castrol grease and lubricant range.
The accelerator aims to capitalise on growth opportunities for technologies like offshore wind, nuclear, electricity networks and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
MakeUK CEO Stephen Phipson was happy with the Government’s commitment to roll out the Made Smart programme nationally, saying that numerous companies within the West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber had already been transformed thanks to the programme. He added:
“The end-to-end specialist support the programme delivers has successfully helped smaller businesses dramatically boost productivity, improve energy efficiency, drive growth, upskill roles and deliver new jobs in digital skills to create workforces of the future, which will allow Britain’s smaller manufacturers to continue to grow and remain globally competitive.”
This announcement came ahead of the Global Investment Summit that was hosted by the UK government.
