Mayor opens £50m electric vehicle jobs fund

A £50m investment to help automotive companies transform and create more skilled jobs in the electric vehicle sector has been launched by the West Midlands mayor.

Grants of between £250,000 and £3m are available as part of The West Midlands Supplier Readiness and Transformation Fund, with companies required to match at least 50% of the funding privately.

Mayor Richard Parker formally opened the programme to applications on Thursday, in a speech at the Advanced Propulsion Centre, based at the University of Warwick in Coventry.

He said the match funded grants were being made available to help businesses capitalise on new opportunities in fast-growing electric vehicle supply chains.

West Midlands Combined Authority's Investment Board backed the fund at a meeting in February.

Companies will be given the funding to invest in new equipment, skills and production capacity to help them compete in the expanding EV market.

The scheme, which will run for four years, is funded through the government's DRIVE35 initiative, which aims to strengthen UK supply chains and boost domestic production as the country moves towards its target of reaching net zero by 2050.

The West Midlands, which is just one of two regions to secure the government investment, boasts about 1,000 automotive companies employing more than 30,000 people.

Parker said the region was "still the engine room of the UK motor industry".

"It's one of our great economic strengths and why I put it at the heart of my growth plan to create skilled jobs with higher wages," he said.

"This is a big investment by government because it knows how crucial the success of our region's automotive sector is to the wider UK economy.

"It will help secure that success and make sure our manufacturers, suppliers and innovators stay ahead as the global market moves ever faster towards electrification."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.