Norfolk’s new Local Growth Plan aims to position the county at the forefront of the UK economy.
A new £1.1m Business Growth Fund will offer businesses grants between £5,000 and £50,000, with an intervention rate of 30pc from April 1 this year.
The Made Smarter Adoption programme for the East of England, meanwhile, will provide a boost for the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector, with grants of up to £20,000 and an intervention rate of 50pc.
The plan hopes to build on Norfolk’s influence in key sectors like clean energy and agri-tech, as well as the cutting-edge research taking place across the county.
Norfolk’s new Local Growth Plan is based on four strategic pillars: local business; people and skills; infrastructure, and placemaking and community.
One of its key aims is to give Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) access to finance to support growth, Research and Development (R&D) or diversification into new services through a combination of business grant and loan schemes.
The new funds announced today will unlock private sector investment, with the new Business Growth Fund’s 30pc intervention rate leveraging in an additional £2.33m of private investment.
The scheme aims to overcome key barriers to growth, such as low-level awareness of IDT, accessing funding to invest in IDT solutions, and skills.
Match-funded grants of up to £20,000 will also be made available for the adoption of new technologies in the 2025-26 financial year.
The Norfolk Business Board hosted the launch of the Local Growth Plan at an event at Norwich Playhouse earlier this month.
Members of the board – set up in April 2024 following the integration of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership into Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils – are now working to develop an action plan to support the strategy.
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Nick Steven-Jones, chair of the Norfolk Business Board and CEO of Jarrolds, said: “Norfolk is brimming with potential and I am certain we can be key players in shaping the UK’s economic future.
“Our region’s strengths are well-recognised by those of us who call Norfolk home, and we have much to be proud of.
“Our county’s potential needs to be acknowledged at the national level and become a fundamental part of the UK’s economic plans.
“We will continue to work hand-in-hand with partners like Norfolk County Council to build an economic future that embraces inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation.”
Norfolk is a global leader for offshore wind, with £39bn of clean energy investment forecasted over the next 20 years.
In Great Yarmouth, the new Operations and Maintenance Campus is expected to create 650 new jobs and new commercial space for the offshore renewable energy sector.
The £24.8m partnership project between Norfolk County Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council is due to be completed later this year.
The local agri-food and agri-tech economy puts Norfolk at the epicentre of addressing challenges around food security and climate change.
Norwich Research Park is a world-leading research base at the forefront of global food and health research, and is Europe’s largest single site hub of research, training, education, and enterprise in food and health.
Major infrastructure projects also continue to transform how businesses get around. The completion of the Herring Bridge and the start of construction on the long-awaited Long Stratton Bypass will bring a major boost for the local economy.
