The East Midlands is ready to capitalise on Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy

The Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, released today, marks a turning point in the future of the East Midlands.

The strategy sets out a bold, ten-year vision to drive green growth, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and the digital sectors not just in the UK, but in the East Midlands. The Government has committed billions of pounds to a range of industries, and the region is ready to capitalise on these investment opportunities.

The Modern Industrial Strategy sets out further opportunities that the East Midlands is ready to take advantage of, such as:

• £2.8 billion for research and development programmes to spur innovation, automation, and commercialisation.
• Doubling investment into clean energy industries to over £30 billion per year by 2035.
• £600 million to create the world’s most advanced, secure, and artificial-intelligence-ready health data platform.
• £150 million fund to support screen, music, and video game industries.

The East Midlands already has wide-ranging strengths to highlight to investors including:

• The East Midlands Investment Zone: a £160m, ten-year programme which is catalysing growth in the advanced manufacturing and clean energy sectors.
• Clean energy: powering the future at the Trent Supercluster, starting with the STEP fusion prototype at West Burton.
• Defence: the region is home to Rolls-Royce which is driving forward the submarine industrial base of the UK.
• Life sciences: NHS and universities in the East Midlands are leading on medical-tech development and diagnostics.
• The East Midlands Freeport: which is investing millions of pounds in seed-funding to add £9 billion to the economy and create 28,000 jobs in the region.

Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, said: “The Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy marks a turning point. It speaks directly to the strengths, ambitions, and future of the East Midlands.

“The strategy sets out a bold, ten-year vision to back Britain’s industrial heartlands to drive clean growth, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and the digital revolution.

The commitments set out in the Modern Industrial Strategy follow several positive announcements for the region in the past weeks. Earlier in the month, the Mayor secured £2 billion for transport improvements to get the region moving. The Government also announced a record £2.5 billion of funding for the STEP Fusion power, cementing the East Midlands as a world-leader in clean energy.

Mayor Claire continued: “For the East Midlands, this means jobs, skills, and global investment. But above all it means that our region, long overlooked, is finally being recognised as the engine of the UK’s future growth.”