Chancellor George Osborne today announced an investment of £28m to enhance the capabilities and capacity of the National Composites Centre.
The NCC, located near Bristol was opened in November 2011, is owned by the University of Bristol will invest the money to construct additional facilities adjacent to the existing building. As well as providing increased capacity and a dedicated high-speed composite manufacturing technology facility, part of the new building will be utilised to ensure a sustainable future for the Composites Manufacturing skills in the UK workforce by bringing together leading businesses, colleges and Universities at a world-class training facility.
Today’s announcement has reinforced the NCC’s continued success in providing a Hub for the UK Composites industry, and brings the total Government funding contribution to the centre to over £40m.
In his Autumn Statement Speech Chancellor George Osborne said,
Today we’re confirming almost half a billion pounds for scientific projects, from supercomputing and satellite technology to a world-beating animal health laboratory.
Within that there is ‘£28 million to increase the capacity of the National Composite Centre in Bristol, which brings together entrepreneurs and academics to deliver innovation in the design and rapid manufacture of composite materials’.
Chairman of the NCC Steering Board speaking for the industrial partners Jim Godman of AgustaWestland said
This is most welcome news, showing the true collaboration between the UK Government, the National Composites Centre and industry at this critical time. This funding will enable the NCC to build upon the phenomenal success of phase 1 and make the centre more accessible and even more relevant to UK business. This investment will support UK industry’s on-going competitiveness in this rapidly growing global market and further enhance High Value Manufacturing’s ability to bring real benefit to our economy. The investment announced today is great news at a very exciting time for the composites industry. As we prepare to meet the challenges of light-weighting and sustainability in all sectors, industrial partners need to work together to invest in the infrastructure and skills we need to support growth. The NCC project will play a key role in this and we’re extremely proud to be part of it.
The new building is planned to be completed by 2nd quarter 2014.
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