Bids worth more than £36 million have been submitted to a new Government fund, in the hope of creating thousands of new jobs for Shropshire.

The bids are among the first to be submitted from Shropshire to the Government’s new Regional Growth Fund, and are backed by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership.

It is estimated the projects seeking Government funding could create more than 3,000 private sector jobs in the local area.

Projects seeking funding include a £5.8 million bid to develop a Centre of Excellence for Food and Drink by extending the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre; a £2.5 million bid to upgrade the electricity supply in Whitchurch; and a private bid for £2.3 million from Enterprise HQ in Coalport which plans to create 300 new jobs over three years by establishing a network of co-working hubs in market towns.

Other projects include a £1.1 million bid to develop a marina and wetland nature reserve in Oswestry, along with associated commercial development and a £2.5 million bid for a Centre of Excellence in Precision Farming at Harper Adams University near Newport. A bid for £2.5 million to create rural business hubs across the Marches has also been submitted.

Marches LEP chairman Dr Geoffrey Davies OBE said: “We are delighted to be championing these bids for RGF funding which demonstrate the desire of both the private and public sector in the Marches to create the conditions for growth and employment.

“Only those projects which deliver large scale jobs and private sector investment, require over £1 million in funding, are ready to deliver and can name the direct or downstream private sector beneficiaries can apply in this first round.”

Competitive

However, the bidding process looks likely to be competitive, and bids which look most likely to guarantee job creation are the most likely to progress. The schemes are competing for a pot of just £250 million nationally, and 450 bids have been submitted across the whole country. A total of £1.4 billion is available over the next three years.

The Marches LEP pre-empted both the formal announcement of the RGF and the release of detailed funding guidance by calling for ideas last September. Around 60 were submitted and tested against the criteria of job yield and readiness to deliver.

Dr Davies added: “The RGF fund has been set up to provide economic development funding and all applications must be match-funded by the private sector. These projects are likely to create thousands of jobs across the Marches. We have also written to the Government to lobby for European Regional Development Funding which, if agreed would significantly increase the amount of resources available.”

“Of course, it is a hugely competitive process and only some of the bids will be successful. However, we believe that all of these projects are strategic priorities for the Marches if we are to create a thriving rural economy and create sustainable private sector jobs.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has said all the bids will be considered by members of the Independent Advisory Panel set up to oversee the scheme.