Engineering news
Vince Cable visited the Lotus headquarters in East Anglia
British car maker Lotus has secured £10 million of government investment which will support the firm's research and help to create hundreds of new jobs.
The grant, awarded by the Regional Growth Fund, will be used for research and development of products and staff training at the car manufacturer's headquarters in Norfolk. In addition, Lotus is expected to create 313 new full-time roles to support production at the site.
Business secretary Vince Cable announced the grant during his tour of the Norfolk facility today. He said: “Lotus is an iconic British car maker, with some of the most innovative engineers in the business. The car industry is one of Britain's great success stories, employing over 130,000 people and helping to build a stronger economy by contributing £11 billion a year. The government's industrial strategy is working and giving business the confidence to invest, creating more high skilled, long term jobs in the UK.
“I am pleased to announce today that our flagship economic plan to create jobs outside of London - the regional growth fund - is awarding Lotus a £10 million grant which will help them develop their next generation of cars and create over 300 new jobs in East Anglia. The government has already supported over 400 projects with £2.6 billion from the Regional Growth Fund, promoting growth in regions across England. The latest round is still open for another two weeks and I'd urge all businesses with a plan to support jobs in their local areas to apply.”
Chief operating officer at Lotus, Aslam Farikullah, commented: “We have very exciting plans for our sports cars and it’s a very positive move for Lotus that we’re in a position to create new jobs and to significantly contribute to Britain’s automotive industry.”
The Regional Growth Fund is a flexible £3.2 billion fund which will operate across England until 2017. The fund supports projects which use private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.
The government and industry are urging businesses to apply for a share of the £300 million pot from the Regional Growth Fund before the deadline on 9 December 2013.