The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has released £115m of joint private sector funding via the AMCSI scheme to support supply chains in advanced manufacturing sectors.
Suppliers of advanced manufacturing assemblies and products got a £116m boost today as the government launched a tranche of funding in round 3 of the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).
Announced at the Government and CBI’s Industrial Strategy Conference today by Business Secretary Vince Cable, the new fund tops up two previous rounds of AMSCI funding of £250m each and is designed to enable suppliers in the UK who nearly qualify to supply big manufacturers a helping hand to get them onto the approved procurement lists of those big firms.
The winning bids will support new technologies and jobs in supply chains for sectors including aerospace, chemicals, electronics and life sciences.
A further £150 million was provided to the construction sector via the Technology Strategy Board’s Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform.
Vince Cable said at the conference: “This time the AMSCI fund will focus on supply chains in the life sciences and electronics, and the £115m in joint private sector investment in the scheme includes a capital grant for plastic electronics manufacturers.”
CBI director-general John Cridland, in an address to a packed house at Warwick University, said: “We are calling for industrial strategy to focus on strengthening UK supply chains and this initiative is one of the best ways to deliver this.
He added that “to build on the scheme’s success, the Government should commit to funding AMSCI for the long-term and encourage greater participation from a wider array of industries, so that more businesses are able to benefit.”
The Business Department provided details of the five new AMSCI projects to date:
· £7.72 million in grant and loan funding to a 5-strong consortium led by Oxford BioMedica to industrialise the production of gene therapy products. The consortium has also invested £1.43 million of their own money. This brings the total investment to £9.15 million.
· £8.85 million grant to an eight-strong consortium led by Proctor & Gamble to manufacture products that open up new markets for particle based products manufactured in existing UK plants. The consortium has also invested £9.04 million of their own money, bringing the total investment to £17.89 million.
· £6.94 million grant to a 13-strong consortium led by the Centre for Process Innovation to capitalise on new global export opportunities for printable electronics. The consortium has also invested £2.89 million of their own money which brings the total investment to £9.83 million.
· £2.24 million grant to Aero Engine Controls and an SME partner Aero Stanrew Limited to develop innovative advanced electromagnetic technology in the UK. The companies have invested £4.73 million of their own money which brings the total investment to £6.97 million.
· In the fifth project a US healthcare sector company is part of the consortium. Using the funding, the consortium will increase its presence and functions within the UK. More details will follow here.
A report on the conference that summarised progress in the UK’s Industrial Strategy one year on from its launch will follow.
