A SOLIHULL virtual reality innovation centre is one of the West Midlands organisations to benefit from a business investment fund worth £124million.
The Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) has successfully completed its 20th flagship local growth scheme.
This has unlocked an overall £124million investment in the education and technology that fuels regional economic growth.
It has already funded educational ventures at Solihull College such as boosting the Virtual Reality and Robotics Development Centre.
GBSLEP funding at the Development Centre has totalled £38million and is said to be improving connectivity, upskilling the local workforce and unlocking new levels of investment and growth in the region.
The innovative facility is aiming to deliver a workforce at the forefront of the world’s rapidly evolving technological industries.
The centre welcomed its first cohort of students in September last year.
Other facilities at the college have benefited from funding boosts such as the Advanced Life Science department and the Centre for Advanced Aeronautical Provision.
As part of GBSLEP’s Local Growth Programme, investment for its first 20 completed projects has come from the Local Growth Fund, via the three Growth Deals agreed with government.
First established in 2010 as a partnership of business, public sector and further and higher education leaders, GBSLEP’s mission is to create jobs, grow the economy and raise the quality of life for nearly two million residents across nine local authority boundaries.
Tim Pile, chair of GBSLEP, said: “GBSLEP is committed to raising the prospects and economic future of every individual and business in Greater Birmingham and Solihull, and these projects demonstrate that we’re achieving this.
“It is hugely rewarding to see the public and private sectors working together to create thousands of jobs and make a real economic impact across the region – from Cannock to Redditch, East Staffordshire to Birmingham.
“These projects reflect a forward-thinking region with huge potential, which welcomes collaboration with other like-minded organisations keen to make a significant impact on our local economy.
“The diversity of the 20 completed projects and their focus on high-growth sectors illustrates our aim to carve a real legacy of sustained economic growth for generations to come.
“With many emerging projects and opportunities set to further stimulate economic prosperity across the region, such as HS2, we look to the future with great optimism.”
The 20 GBSLEP-supported projects now in delivery span burgeoning sectors such as technology and engineering, infrastructure and education.
