The exchequer secretary to the Treasury today visited Leicester to unveil a £19.4m government investment plan to support the development of the city’s space and satellite tech sectors.
The investment is part of the Levelling Up Fund, a government scheme to support industries and infrastructure across the less represented regions in the UK. The first round of the fund is worth £1.7bn.
Exchequer Secretary Felicity Buchan toured Leicester’s Pioneer Park, where she was told how the planned investment will go toward supporting research and development and advanced manufacturing within the Leicester space tech sector.
“It’s fantastic to see how our investment will turbocharge growth in Leicester’s rapidly expanding space sector, encouraging innovative businesses to expand and grow in the city, creating high-skilled jobs,” Buchan said.
“And we are going further to ignite growth through our brand-new Investment Zones, which will encourage businesses to invest, driving our economy forward and creating opportunity for everyone.”
The investment into Leicester marks one of 10 areas in the East Midlands set to receive a share of the £203m allocated to the county for the first round of the Levelling Up Fund.
Further announcements of fund allocation from the government are expected to come before the end of this year.
The visit follows the announcement of a government plan to establish ‘Investment Zones’ across different UK regions in line with the levelling up agenda. The Leicestershire County Council is one of 38 local authorities to have expressed interest in taking part in the scheme.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has been urged to give proper attention to the levelling up plan by Tech London Advocates founder Russ Shaw CBE amid the current economic crisis caused by her government’s mini-budget.
