Cardiff Capital Region City Deal launches £6.6 million programme to drive business and economic development across Southeast Wales

The Cardiff Capital Region City Deal (CCR) has launched a unique £6.6 million programme that seeks to drive economic development across Southeast Wales by boosting job creation and skills and unlocking barriers to growth for businesses.

Jointly funded by CCR and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the two-year Cluster Development & Growth Programme will deliver targeted projects across the region, supporting activity within CCR’s priority sectors: Fintech, MedTech, Cybersecurity, Compound Semiconductors, and Creative Industries, along with CCR’s Net Zero ambitions.

Contracts have been awarded to three delivery partners that will each manage one of three targeted projects; a Skills Programme, a series of Academic-Industry Partnerships, and a Business Growth Programme.

Cardiff and Vale College will lead a network of higher and further education, and specialist skills partners to deliver the Skills Programme, the University of South Wales will lead the consortium for the Academic-Industry Partnership Programme and Grant Thornton LLP, alongside delivery partners Business in Focus, and Cardiff Metropolitan University School of Business, will address scale-up support for enterprises in the Business Growth Programme.

Lis Burnett, Leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, and the Portfolio Lead for CCR’s Shared Prosperity operations has praised the teams that have come together in this venture: “This Programme represents a new and ambitious development in the journey to unleash the Region’s potential in skills, innovation, and knowledge-based enterprises. The organisations that have come together to make this a reality have expertise and depth and I am looking forward to working with them as the Programme develops.”

The development of the Programme was supported by CCR’s Regional Business Council, and its Chair, Nigel Griffiths commented: “The launch of these programmes is a watershed moment for our Region. By investing in our people and our businesses, we are creating the conditions for sustainable growth and prosperity. I am confident that these programmes will help us to build a stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous future for everyone.”

The Head of Innovation and Clusters in CCR is Gavin Powell and he concludes by saying: “I am pleased that CCR is matching the Shared Prosperity Fund’s investment in this exciting Programme, we are gearing up for a major shift in upskilling across our priority clusters – this reinforcement goes hand in hand with our strategy and vision of supporting good growth in the Region.”