The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today announced a shortlist of four new projects in line to receive a share of a £40million fund for regeneration and business support schemes across the capital.
The four projects were selected by the London Enterprise Panel, which is chaired by the Mayor, in a meeting at City Hall today, and include: • an upgrade of Hackney Wick station; • a support facility for new manufacturing start-ups in Hayes, west London; • a Camden project to support entrepreneurs; and • a business-led recruitment agency to help local people find employment in financial services.
The London Enterprise Panel acts as a forum for London’s businesses, boroughs, the Mayoralty, Transport for London and other key stakeholders to discuss the key levers for private sector growth in London. It is supported by £111m secured by the Mayor from the Government's Growing Places Fund.
A total of 32 projects bid for a share in the £40m second round of the Growing Places Fund, which also includes a £25m allocation for a finance scheme for small and medium sized businesses. A number of projects including support for Film London, apprenticeships, an exports programme have already been allocated funding. A further £40m has been allocated to transport projects, in Ealing, Bexley, Enfield and the West Anglia Route in North London.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “These four ambitious proposals hold the key to a brighter future for many of London’s communities, and we are delighted to be taking them forward for development. The London Enterprise Panel has a crucial role to play in supporting jobs, regeneration and new businesses, maintaining our competitive economic edge, and preserving London’s position as the best big city on earth.”
The bids shortlisted by the Mayor and the London Enterprise Panel in detail are:
£8.5m to upgrade Hackney Wick station by 2016, a proposal from the London Legacy Corporation - Improvements to Hackney Wick station will help unlock the full economic potential of Hackney Wick to support the creation of thousands of jobs. The Hackney Wick and Fish Island area (including iCITY, the new town centre around the station and the neighbourhoods of East Wick and Sweetwater) are anticipated to deliver new and improved business space creating thousands of new private sector jobs, and up to 6,000 new homes. - The improvements include new routes to reduce journey-times between the station and iCITY and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a new and enlarged station concourse, the installation of lifts to the platforms, and the creation of a new north-south pedestrian route for both passengers and other pedestrians under the railway embankment.
£7.7m to transform part of the Old Vinyl Factory development into a new Central Research Laboratory, a proposal from Cathedral Group and Development Securities - The new Central Research Laboratory (CRL), in The Old Vinyl Factory which was formally the home of EMI and HMV, will be a facility to offer manufacturing start-ups everything they need to become successful commercial businesses. - The CRL will be the first of its kind in the UK providing research and development laboratories, a small-batch production facility and seed funding.
£50,000 for the creation of The Collective Accelerator programme, a proposal from Camden Town Unlimited - A trial one year accelerator programme to break down the challenges and barriers for emerging creative businesses offering a range of support including seed funding, mentorship and a contribution to the growth of creative industries in Camden. - The Collective Accelerator will build on the successes of the existing Collective Incubator, creating and supporting more interesting and dynamic businesses in Camden Town. It will support potential entrepreneurs in moving from creating projects and product lines to thinking about sustainable businesses.
£100,000 to London Works for a new business-led specialist recruitment agency with a social purpose, a proposal from East London Business Alliance - London Works is a new business-led specialist recruitment agency with a social purpose, helping talented people from low income backgrounds into their first role in London’s financial and business services sector. - By year 3 over 1000 people per year will access jobs via London Works. Placement lengths will vary from 12 weeks to 12 months, with support to secure permanent employment.
The Mayor became the chair of the LEP this month following the publication of the Mayor’s 2020 Vision and the London Finance Commission report in which the panel’s growing strategic importance was highlighted.
Alongside the Mayor and the existing business and borough representatives, the Mayor has also appointed five new Members to represent housing, transport and Olympic legacy. They are: • Sir Peter Hendy – Commissioner of Transport for London; and • Sir Edward Lister – The Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Planning. • Richard Blakeway – Deputy Mayor for Housing, Planning & Land; • Neale Coleman - Deputy Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation; • Isabel Dedring – Deputy Mayor for Transport;
A further member, to represent London’s universities, will be appointed by the Mayor in due course.
Notes to editors
• The Mayor has secured £111million from the Government's Growing Places Fund to support the work of the London Enterprise Panel. To date, the Mayor and the LEP have announced: £25m to create a fund to support small and medium businesses; £2million for Film London (comprising City Hall and Growing Places money) enabling it to capitalise on a new tax relief for TV and animation production - it is anticipated this will attract £200m worth of additional expenditure through TV and animation production and create 1000 industry jobs; £700,000 to support the delivery of an export programme. A total of around £70million has been allocated or is in the pipeline for bids received in the first round of funding. These are now being worked up into detailed proposals with a view to confirm more funding announcements in the coming months.
• These projects will all now be subject to further due diligence to finalise the details and the next stage of approval is assessment by the Greater London Authority’s Investment and Performance Board
• The London Enterprise Panel has developed a Jobs and Growth Plan outlining a series of aims and recommendations to grow London's economy and boost private sector investment: www.london.gov.uk/londonenterprisepanel
• The full Membership for the LEP can be viewed here: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/business-economy/working-in-partnership/london-enterprise-panel/london-enterprise-panel-members
• The national Growing Places Fund is designed to: Generate economic activity in the short term by addressing immediate infrastructure and site constraints and promote the delivery of jobs and housing; to allow local enterprise partnerships to prioritise the infrastructure they need, empowering them to deliver their economic strategies; to establish sustainable revolving funds so that funding can be reinvested to unlock further development, and leverage private investment.
• The Mayor is committed to openness in all aspects of his administration and is committed to making the work of this Panel transparent. Agendas and papers for the Panel and any Working Groups will therefore be posted on the GLA’s website at least two clear working days before the meeting to which they relate. Papers will be released with the agenda except in those cases where the Secretary reasonably considers that information contained in the papers may be exempt from disclosure under an applicable exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
• Further information on the LEP can be found at: www.london.gov.uk/londonenterprisepanel
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