South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) has backed the development of an Innovation Centre at Kent Medical Campus.
Maidstone Borough Council has secured £156,000 from SELEP to contribute to the cost of design work required for 30,000ft2 Innovation Centre at Kent Medical Campus at junction 7 of the M20.
One of four projects endorsed by SELEP
The project is one of four bids which were endorsed by SELEP Strategic Board in September for SELEP’s Sector Support Fund, a fund designed to help bring forward projects that help grow specific industries, in this case innovation and healthcare businesses.
Christian Brodie, Chairman of SELEP, said: “Supporting specific projects that can help unlock the growth potential of businesses in those sectors that are going to drive our economy forward is a key to the success of the LEP.
“The Innovation Centre project builds upon the Government’s support for the North Kent Enterprise Zone, which includes Kent Medical Campus, identified by Maidstone Borough Council as a key place for employment growth in the area.”
Working space for SMEs in the life sciences sector
When complete, the Innovation Centre will offer small and medium-sized enterprises working in the life science, healthcare and med-tech sectors access to a combination of high-quality office accommodation and business support, providing a nurturing environment for start-ups and growing businesses.
Commenting on the funding, Councillor Martin Cox, Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, said: “The UK is a world leader in life sciences and Kent Medical Campus provides the opportunity for Maidstone to become an important centre for the medical technologies industry in the South East.
“This grant is great news and a significant step towards bringing this vision to reality. The £156,000 Sector Support Fund grant that the Council has secured from SELEP will help to cover the design costs for the development of the Innovation Centre.”
Designs for the new facility will be finalised by the end of 2018, with a planning application then expected to be submitted to Maidstone Borough Council. If planning is approved and funding is secured to support the construction costs of the project through a European Regional Development Fund award, the aim is for the Innovation Centre to opens its doors in April 2020.
Sector Support Fund
The Sector Support Fund (SSF) is a £500,000 per year pot to support one-off, discrete pieces of work of a pan-LEP nature with a sector focus that brings demonstrable benefit and has support across the LEP.
It uses Growing Places Fund (GPF) Revenue grant to fund a programme of works to support the sector focussed activities that are being undertaken on a pan-LEP basis and predominantly led by the SELEP working groups. When the Growing Places Fund (GPF) grant was originally awarded, a proportion of the fund was earmarked as revenue which is being used for the Sector Support Fund.