A £40m fund to support growth in the UK's aerospace industry will be based in Coventry, aiming to create or retain 1,200 jobs.
The Aerospace Growth Partnership’s National Aerospace Technology Programme (NATEP), designed to aid innovation of technologies for new products or manufacturing processes, will allocate funding from now till next year.
More than 30 small and medium-sized suppliers have applied for a share of the NATEP funding, with the programme being sponsored by industry giants such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce.
Five industry experts based at the University of Warwick Science Park’s Business Innovation Centre in Binley will work with a team in each of the UK’s regional aerospace alliances in managing NATEP.
Programme director Dave Dawson said: “The aim of the programme is to aid innovation in UK aerospace sector in order to allow us to produce new technologies at a greater rate than our competitors.
“The regional version of this programme had initially taken place here in Binley with help from the Midlands Aerospace Alliance so it seemed like a great place to work from, to build on the success of that scheme.”
Last month (January 2014), Chancellor George Osborne announced a £60m investment in the development of high-tech aerospace technology.
