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£5.5 million kick-start as the East of England underpins a low carbon future

23 February 2010

Companies carrying out low carbon research and development in the East of England will be able to benefit from an extra £5.5 million in funding secured by EEDA.

The funding will support the region’s position as a global provider of innovative low carbon goods and services.

This extra finance, from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme, supplements an already comprehensive suite of support on offer for companies, available via EEDA’s Business Map. It is part of a much larger package of support that EEDA is bringing together to maximise the potential of the region as it makes the transition to a low carbon economy.

This package will include a £20 million low carbon venture capital fund, also supported by the ERDF to plug the current gap in finance for early-stage start-ups, and a further £7 million grant scheme to facilitate the exchanging of new commercial ideas between businesses and academic institutions. By the end of 2010, there will be over £50 million available to help firms wanting to seize low carbon opportunities in the East of England. The package of grants and incentives will drive the East of England towards a low carbon future, creating jobs, generating wealth and raising skills and aspirations in this fast growing economic sector.

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said:

“Today’s announcement is a big step towards creating a thriving network of innovative low carbon businesses operating successfully across the East of England, the UK and abroad. The East of England is one of the UK’s leading economic areas and our goal is to capitalise on the region’s strengths in ideas, innovation and enterprise and to demonstrate national leadership in the field of low carbon technology and solutions.

“To support this rapid development EEDA is facilitating a significant £50 million package of public and private-sector financial support, and there will be further detailed announcements during 2010.

“The East of England accounts for 10 per cent of UK exports from the low carbon and environmental goods and services sectors, a global market set to grow exponentially. The industry in the region is worth in excess of £10 billion, backed by links to world-class universities and research institutes working on low carbon issues.”

Deborah Cadman, chief executive of EEDA, said:

“The economic landscape is very different now than it was ten years ago when RDAs were established. We have continued to respond to local needs and invested for the future, building on the region’s strengths with our renewable energy hub at OrbisEnergy, science parks at Colworth, GSK and Norwich Research Park and raising skills across the region such as UCS (University Campus Suffolk), Southend and Harlow. These investments are having a real, tangible benefit to people, places and business across the East of England.

“EEDA is adapting its approach and programmes to the changing economic environment and to continue to serve the current and future needs of the region’s business community. EEDA has a fantastic track record of funding innovative new products with each £1 invested through our Grant for R&D programme providing a return on investment of £12 into the economy. In an era of low public spending, limited financial resources and the need for continued future growth and prosperity, the role of the regions in driving economic development and levering in funding from all available sources is vital, ensuring we maximise return and impact for every pound spent.”

Barbara Follett, Minister for the East of England, said:

"This is really good news for the East of England. Our future prosperity relies on a low carbon economy and we must seize the opportunities offered by this money to create new jobs and new skills. This new investment reinforces the extensive support already provided by the East of England Development Agency to encourage the growth of innovative and competitive enterprises in the region."

These new low carbon research and development grants have been requested by business and is a great example of the public sector responding to the needs of business.  Recent research has shown clear benefits of grant funding to businesses (see Notes to Editors below). EEDA’s Grants for Research and Development provide finance to help businesses carry out R&D work that will lead to technologically innovative products or processes. Grants range from £5,000 to £250,000 and are awarded to entrepreneurs or companies wishing to:
• develop a prototype of an innovative product or process
• investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of innovative technologies
• develop a pre-production prototype of a new product.

For more information about the grants available and to download a pre-application form, please go to www.eeda.org.uk/finance/lowcarbon.

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