Stobart and Pilkington secure £172m of investment to create thousands of jobs

Two firms in the Liverpool city region have secured £172m of private and public sector investment to safeguard and create thousands of jobs.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has confirmed that logistics giant Stobart and glassmaker Pilkington will go forward with two major infrastructure projects with support from the Governments Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

As first revealed by the LDP Business earlier this year, Stobart will receive £9m of RGF cash towards  the £139m transformation of its Widnes freight park and Pilkington will get a £5m contribution towards its £33m coating plant.Stobart, will expand the site in a move that is expected to create 3,450 direct jobs and 1,276 indirect jobs.

The funding will be managed by Halton Council. Stobart and their partners Prologis are investing £130m in addition to the £9m of government funding.

St Helens-based Pilkington, a division of Nippon Sheet Glass, is investing £28m plus the £5m RGF money to introduce a more efficient production technique and produce glass that is more competitive in the European market.

As a result, 254 direct jobs and 209 indirect jobs will be created. Mr Clegg has visited both sites today. He told the ECHO: "This  investment will help to create or  safeguard thousands of jobs.

"This about getting behind the projects that will create a bright new  future."

Mr Clegg said RGF wasnt just about  a man from Whitehall turning up with  a cheque but was about using top-up  funding from the Government  to encourage investment  from the private sector.

He added: "It is about  jobs, jobs, jobs. That is  the acid test for any money being allocated  through the RGF scheme."

During his visit to the region, Mr Clegg also announced that an additional £1bn boost to the RGF is expected to enable the fund to support a total of around 500,000 jobs across the UK.

He confirmed  that the total national fund will be £2.4bn and announce there will be at least two further rounds of bidding, with the next round opening in February 2012.

There will be an additional focus on bids from the eight core cities Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

"I want the North West to be a place where people make things again, where iconic businesses like Stobart and Pilkington can thrive," he added.