We are pleased to see Phase 1 of the Industrial Clusters Mission backed by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) successfully completed with the bid for the next phase submitted. We are an active player in BCIC alongside a strong, committed team led by the Black Country LEP who has been essential in leading the Cluster Plan Development.
The Black Country was built on energy and innovation and is home to large numbers of SMEs employing over 100,000 people that include 3,000 energy-intense businesses. Our vision is to create a model that could deliver over 20 MtCO2 emission reductions nationally.
Our Cluster Plan builds on our unique opportunities within the Black Country
- Flexible, reconfigurable operations – building on the opportunity to integrate into local spatial and economic planning
- Diversity – spreading the risk
- Responsiveness and speed
- A highly replicable, cost-effective, and scalable model, complementing large scale investments in the other clusters
We aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 2.3 Mt p.a., create 20,000 jobs & deliver £4.9bn of clean growth
- National replication will deliver at least 10 x these benefits
Significant opportunities for inward investment, right-shoring, job creation
- Dedicated work strands on finance and investment to facilitate this