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The UK government has announced a new £500 million Mayoral Revolving Growth Fund that will give six major city regions in the North and Midlands access to long term, repayable capital. This money is intended to unlock commercial development, restart stalled regeneration projects, and bring new confidence to areas where investment has been slow for many years.
The fund gives mayors finance on terms that commercial lenders rarely offer. This should make it possible to move forward with projects that are viable but have struggled to get off the ground in the past. The theory is that the funding is revolving i.e. it’s designed to be recycled, so returns from early investments will be reinvested into future schemes, creating a long term engine for regional growth.
Types of project eligible include new office space, labs, innovation hubs and other commercially led developments that are central to local growth plans. Each region will need to demonstrate that the money is used for projects that generate jobs, attract further private investment and contribute to wider productivity goals.
The regions that are affected are Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, the North East, the West Midlands, Liverpool City Region and South Yorkshire.