Minutes:
An exempt report was received which requested the Board’s approval of two schemes with a total value of £1.9m Local Growth Fund (LGF) and approval to delegate authority to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with the S73 and Monitoring Officer to enter into legal agreements for the schemes.
The Appraisal Panel Summary Table attached at Appendix A to the report asked the Board to take a decision whether to support the proposal of a LGF grant of £1.5m to a Rotherham based company to help capitalise on growth opportunities currently limited by production capacity, by meeting existing demand, bringing to market new products, and expanding into new countries and sports. The project involved the purchase and development of land to build a 100,000 sqft premises, along with associated fixture and fittings.
The project was estimated to deliver 210 net additional jobs at a cost of £7,157. This was estimated to generate net additional GVA of approximately £66.18m over a 10-year period for the SCR economy, equating to a return of £48.69 for every £1 of LGF, which was considered good value for money for the LGF investment.
The Board considered and approved the request.
The Appraisal Panel Summary Table attached at Appendix B to the report asked the Board to take a decision whether to support the proposal of a LGF grant of £400,000 to a Sheffield based company to fund Phase 1 of a project to develop a new digital product within its existing SCR facility. The company had explained that, Phase 1 funding was essential to enable Phase 2 investments which would develop and commercialise a suite of wider digital products between 2021 and 2023.
The Phase 1 project was estimated to deliver 13 net additional jobs at a cost per jobs of £31,234. The project was estimated to generate net additional GVA of approximately £4.35m over a 10-year period for the SCR economy (based on all jobs created/safeguarded), equating to a return of £11.64 for every £1 of LGF, which was considered good value for money for the LGF investment.
The Board considered and approved the request, subject to there being a discussion with the company and inclusion in the contract that, upon practical completion of Phase 1, an element of the Phase 2 project, must be delivered locally within the SCR. ACTION: F Kumi-Ampofo to explore options and present to the Board via email following today’s meeting.
RESOLVED - That the Business Growth Board considered and approved:-
1. Progression of Project one to full approval and award of £400,000 grant from the Local Growth Fund subject to the conditions set out in the Appraisal Panel Summary Table attached at Appendix A to the report.
2. Progression of Project two to full approval and award of £1.5m grant from the Local Growth Fund subject to conditions set out in the Appraisal Panel Summary Table attached at Appendix B to the report, subject to there being a discussion with the company and inclusion in the contract that, upon practical completion of Phase 1, an element of the Phase 2 project, must be delivered locally within the SCR.
Delegated authority be given to the Head of Paid Service in consultation with the s73 and Monitoring Officer to enter into legal agreements for the scheme.
Supporting documents: