Councils in West Yorkshire are being asked to spend £2 million to try to entice a London-based company to expand into the area.
At a meeting on Thursday, West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Investment Committee will discuss proposals to use their Strategic Inward Investment Fund to make the company’s proposed move to Leeds more attractive.
A report to the committee gives brief details of the proposals, but the identity of the company is not revealed.
It says that if the business does move to Leeds, it will create 400 full-time jobs and 400 part-time jobs by 2026 and have a “significant economic impact” on the local economy.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is a body made up of representatives for all five councils in the region.
Leeds is one of three possible locations the company has identified, and is said to be the preferred location.
The report says: “Leeds is the preferred location as it provides the company with access to high-quality graduates, access to suppliers and a good quality of life for employees.
“However, there are greater financial incentives available to locate in one of the other locations, with the company stating that it has had a verbal indication that grant support of 30 per cent of the eligible project costs will be made available to secure the investment there.
“Without support from SIIF funding there is a significant risk that the company will establish its facility elsewhere.”
The overall cost of the expansion into Leeds is expected to be £13.6 million – with the Authority providing £2m of this.
Members will be told that the average salary of the new jobs being created will be £36,000, and the roles will include manufacturing technicians, R&D staff, graduate engineers, managers and senior managers.
The non-confidential parts of the report are vague about the company, but say: “The company is based in London and will retain its operation and headquarters in London.
“However, demand for the company’s products has increased significantly and current capacity in London is unable to satisfy this demand. 12 major contracts (value £3.5m) have had to be put on hold or lost due to this deficiency, which is now substantially constraining the growth capability of the business.
“The order book already has a pipeline of customer requirements that will utilise significant capacity from a new manufacturing site as soon as it is on-line. By bringing the manufacturing in-house, the business will also be able to provide confidence to customers and investors in relation to achieving corporate goals around revenue.”
The company’s board will make the decision if they want to proceed with the project this month.
The committee meets online at 11am on Thursday.
