Loughborough University Hosts Business Briefing to Update Progress on £40M Loughborough Town Deal
Local business leaders are invited to learn more about progress being made on Loughborough Town Deal at a free networking event held at Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park.
The event, which takes place on Friday 1 March, will showcase various projects including town centre and riverside regeneration, digital, careers and business skills, and flood risk management, aimed at bringing positive changes to Loughborough.
Organised by the Loughborough Town Deal board, the ‘Delivering the Deal’ networking event will provide businesses with a valuable opportunity to connect with local leaders and hear informal updates on the programme’s progress.
Dr Nik Kotecha, Chair of Loughborough Town Deal board said: “I’m immensely proud of how the programme, supported by £16.9 million from the Government’s Towns Fund, is backing a series of projects boosting skills, regenerating the town and supporting the visitor economy. In total, the projects will bring more than £40m of investment into the town.”
Among these initiatives is the University’s Healthy and Innovative Loughborough project, which has secured a £2.46 million grant from Loughborough Town Deal. By leveraging the University’s expertise in sports, research, entrepreneurship, and knowledge creation, the project aims to create new jobs, support emerging businesses, and improve the health of the local community.
The event will take place at SportPark Pavilion 4, located on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP). The newly completed development, which represents a £9million expansion of SportPark, was supported by Town Deal funding.
One of only 5 Passivhaus Certified office buildings in the UK, SportPark Pavilion 4 offers sports organisations environmentally future-proof accommodation tailored to their needs, helping to boost employment opportunities and attract more businesses to the region.
Other initiatives to be delivered as part of the Healthy and Innovative Loughborough project will include support for sixty new businesses through a New Business Wayfinder programme.
With bases at LUSEP and the Careers and Enterprise Hub in Loughborough town centre, businesses can benefit from access to knowledge and expertise, as well as dedicated office space and labs for prototyping of innovative designs.
Other areas of Town Deal funding will concentrate on the health of local communities and improving the connectedness between the railway station, the town centre and LUSEP.
The project will also create an Impact Hub to assess and analyse the health of the town to help plan for future developments and improvements.
Professor Chris Rielly, Dean of the School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering and Loughborough University lead for the Healthy and Innovative Loughborough Project, said: “The University recognises the important local economic anchor role it plays and we are delighted that, through Government’s Towns Fund, we are working in civic partnership with stakeholders to make Loughborough a healthy place to live and work, and enabling new businesses to prosper. We look forward to welcoming the business community on Friday 1 March.”
As well as providing a briefing for business leaders, Delivering the Deal will provide opportunities for regional business networking, fostering further opportunities for collaboration. Common interests, including trends shaping the town’s economic future and overcoming shared challenges, are also likely to be in focus as topics of discussion for those attending.