Metro Mayor offers £15m to manufacturing centre to create 40 jobs
Steve Rotheram will ask the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to approve the grant for the Manufacturing Technology Centre at Liverpool Science Park.
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram at the Manufacturing Technology Centre
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram is ready to provide £15m to help the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Liverpool expand and create more than 40 jobs.
In September the MTC, which bridges the gap between university-based research and the manufacturing sector, relocated its 60 Liverpool-based staff from Liverpool John Moores Byrom Street Campus to Liverpool Science Park.
Now the organisation, part of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult which supported by Innovate UK, is looking to expand its operations with the creation of more than 40 high-skill jobs. In the next few days the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will be asked to approve a £15m grant from its Strategic Investment Fund to enable the MTC to expand its facilities at its new home. Steve Rotheram said:
“The Liverpool city region is already a hotbed of advanced manufacturing activity and we are leading the way, nationally and internationally. The funding will have the twin benefits of delivering solutions for established industries while also providing a space in which innovative and responsive SMEs can develop.
“Being able to support facilities such as this, which will drive the city region’s economic fortunes, is one of the main reasons we are so keen to take more decisions locally.”
The proposed investment would enable the MTC to develop an open access Digital Manufacturing Accelerator that will comprise two assets:
- A ‘Rapidly Reconfigurable Factory Environment’ – a digitally enabled Factory in a Box test bed at MTC’s recently opened centre in the Knowledge Quarter.
- A ‘Digital Factory Environment’ at STFC Daresbury in Halton.
Both of these facilities will allow companies to test and develop their manufacturing process and systems and use digital technology to enable them to become more productive and successful.
MTC works across a number of sectors, including automotive, aerospace, construction, defence, rail, informatics, fast-moving consumer goods and electronics sectors. Its strategic development director Neil Rawlinson, said: “At the MTC, we believe our purpose is to have a positive impact on society.
“We know we can do that by working in partnership with the Liverpool city region innovation community. We are excited to be expanding our facilities and services in the Liverpool region, working with our partners and regional stakeholders to help manufacturers in the North West region stay competitive, improve product development and benefit from new manufacturing and digital technologies.”
Visit the-mtc.org/