During a two-day visit to the South West, Vince Cable has confirmed that Princess Yachts could now start drawing down on its £4.6 million grant to help the company invest over £35 million in a new superyacht hall. This investment has already created 290 jobs and helped safeguard 400 more.
The Plymouth based luxury yacht builder had won the financial backing in 2011 from the Governments Regional Growth Fund with plans to create a world leading boat building facility at the company’s South Yard site already approved by Plymouth City Council.
The new production site will be used to build Princess M Class yachts, a range of 100-foot plus vessels developed to meet the growing global demand for craft of this size. The new facility will create or secure over 1,000 jobs both directly and indirectly in the wider Plymouth economy. The company exports 90 per cent of its production and has built a global reputation for quality and craftsmanship. It is already Plymouth’s second largest private sector employer, with just under 2,000 employees, and supports several hundred supply chain jobs.
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £2.6 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2016. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment. The fourth round of RGF is now closed and Ministers will announce the bids selected to receive a share of the £350 million.
During his tour Mr Cable also visited Supacat in Honiton which links to key industrial strategy sectors: oil and gas, and renewables. Supacat develops specialist high-mobility all terrain vehicles including the British Army’s Jackal, is diversifying its business from focusing on defence into the marine, oil and gas and renewables sectors. It has already designed and is now building the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s new Launch and Recovery System and is currently building a flexible, multi-role support vessel aimed at the offshore engineering sectors including the support to offshore windfarms.
Image courtesy of: Princess Yachts International plc
[rssless]
[connections id=’245′]
[/rssless]