Birmingham's region in the running for £700m fund to unlock major investment sites

Birmingham's region is among the places being looked at for a share of a new £700 million government fund designed to unlock up to ten of the UK's biggest industrial and commercial development sites.

The Strategic Sites Accelerator, launched today, will offer loans, equity and targeted grants, along with expert help, to get high-potential sites moving where barriers such as planning, grid connections or finance are holding them back. The government hopes it will attract up to £2 billion of private investment and support tens of thousands of jobs over time.

How it will work

The accelerator will focus on commercially viable sites with strong investor demand, where government backing can tip the balance. It brings together the Office for Investment and the National Wealth Fund, with the property firm CBRE as national delivery partner.

It is already working on potential sites in Glasgow, Burgess Hill and Sheffield. It will also explore investment opportunities with mayors and local authorities in several regions, including the combined authority area that covers Birmingham, alongside Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the Liverpool City Region, the North East, the Glasgow City Region and the Cardiff Capital Region.

The scheme is open to sites in every nation and region, from science parks and manufacturing sites to innovation districts, with a focus on high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital and tech, defence and life sciences. The government's stated ambition is to support six to ten sites, each subject to commercial checks and approvals.

"We have the right ingredients"

The regional mayor, Richard Parker, welcomed the scheme. "We want to take the great ideas being developed here, turn them into successful businesses and make sure the jobs that follow stay here," he said.

"We have the right ingredients. But too often major investment opportunities are held back by practical barriers, whether that's infrastructure, access to finance or getting sites ready for development.

"This Strategic Sites Accelerator is exactly the kind of partnership we need with Government to remove those barriers. We can then attract private investment and turn our ambitions into good, well-paid jobs for local people."

Parker pointed to the combined authority's growth plan and its new Reindustrialisation Blueprint, which set out how the region intends to grow its economy.

Ministers on "good growth in every postcode"

Chancellor John Healey said: "Local leaders know their communities best. Only by trusting them with real power and resources will we see change."

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the programme would "get the ball rolling for up to 10 of the UK's most important potential sites, attract billions in investment, unlock tens of thousands of good-quality jobs in the years ahead, and bring good growth to every postcode."

The government says tech and digital jobs in particular can pay upwards of £45,000, well above the national average.

What next

The accelerator follows last week's Budget, which gave mayors and local leaders new powers and resources to attract investment. No.10 North, the government's base outside London, will work alongside the programme to share pipelines of priority projects.

No site in Birmingham has yet been named. But with only six to ten places on offer nationally, the race to put forward the strongest candidates is now on, and the combined authority has made clear it intends to be in it.