Grants top $10m as SE invests to promote job growth in Scotland

By SCOTT REID
Published on 24/10/2012 00:00

Some 1,100 jobs are expected to be created or safeguarded in the wake of more than £10 million of grant funding, it emerged yesterday.

Scottish Enterprise said regional selective assistance (RSA) grants had been accepted by 32 companies during the last quarter. The funding is expected to generate a further £65m through additional investment by the firms themselves.

RSA grants are paid out in instalments as job and capital expenditure targets are met over a period of time. However, projects can be scaled down or even abandoned before payments are made.

Scottish Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson said: “The awards made through the RSA fund to Scottish companies in this past quarter vary hugely, from £38,000 to around £400,000. “That shows the flexibility of the scheme – it can support any company of any size, so long as that company has the desire and the capacity to grow.”

Three-quarters of the companies benefiting from the latest round of funding are indigenous businesses. They include Aberdeen-based Coretrax Technology which was offered £400,000 towards a new facility to aid its expansion.

Among the overseas companies to agree RSA funding is Swedish outfit Proact IT UK, which is on the receiving end of a £475,000 grant to establish a technical support centre in North Lanarkshire. It is hoped that the move can support 50 additional posts.

Wilson added: “RSA funding can often be a lever which companies can use to access finance from other sources.”