Signing of the £251.5m Ayrshire Growth Deal will kick-start range of projects. The UK and Scottish governments will each invest £103m. This will be supported by South, East and North Ayrshire Councils which will be investing upwards of £45.5m in total. It is hoped the deal will create approximately 7000 jobs across a wide range of sectors. The investment will be delivered over a 15-year period.
Ayrshire’s three Council leaders were joined by the secretary of state for Scotland David Mundell and cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity Michael Matheson to sign the heads of terms on the deal. Matheson said: “Today’s Ayrshire Growth Deal demonstrates our commitment to supporting the region and delivering long-term benefits to the local economy. “The Scottish Government will invest £103 million as part of a £251.5 million Growth Deal that will drive inclusive growth and benefit people across Ayrshire. Partners estimate this will leverage £300 million of additional investment from the private sector and around 7,000 jobs for the region.”
One of the aims of the deal is to position Ayrshire as the UK’s leading hub for aerospace and space, with approximately £80m being invested to support development of a horizontal space launch facility and visitor centre at Prestwick Airport. There will also be commercial business space around the airport sectors.
Scottish secretary David Mundell said: “We are investing in a raft of exciting and ambitious projects right across Ayrshire. Initiatives include an aerospace development at Prestwick, a low carbon energy scheme at Hunterston, a local electricity supply project in Cumnock, a manufacturing corridor in Kilmarnock, and a digital subsea cable to dramatically improve connectivity. The Ayrshire Growth Deal brings UK Government investment in Growth Deals in Scotland to £1.3 billion, a huge commitment to growing Scotland’s economy.”
Projects include
- £80m investment that will position Ayrshire as one of the UK’s leading centres of Aerospace and Space activity. This will include the development of an Aerospace and Space Innovation Centre (ASIC);
- £23.5m to create the Ayrshire Manufacturing Investment Corridor (AMIC) in Bellfield, Kilmarnock.
- £16m to develop the Ayrshire Engineering Park to provide expansion and development of Moorfield industrial Park in Kilmarnock;
- £21m investment into the i3 area of Irvine building on current Life Science businesses on site;
- £14m tourism investment at Irvine Harbourside and Ardeer peninsula;
- £9.5 million in Marine Tourism, which will focus on securing infrastructure that supports key components such as sailing and boating, marine leisure and recreation;
- £24.5m National Energy Research Demonstrator Project (NERD);
- £18 million for the Centre for Research into Low Carbon Energy and Circular Economy (CECE) at the Hunterston Strategic West Scotland Industrial Hub;
- £10.5 million for a new International Marine Science and Environmental Centre (ISME) based at Ardrossan;
- £11 million for a subsea fibre optic cable to have its landing point in Irvine.
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