Up to £10 million has been made available through the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme to develop additional workspace to support SMEs.

Low commercial property values and high development costs have for many years made commercial property development unviable in all but a few prime locations. As a result, many businesses are located in outdated accommodation, often not suiting their requirements or their aspirations.

Research has shown that a lack of space impacts upon the ability of businesses to expand. Although investment through previous European funding programmes has helped to address this issue through the provision of high quality, modern, well-located workspace, it remains an important objective if Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is to attract, retain and grow high-value businesses.

Applications for funding will be assessed every six months on a rolling basis for the next 18 months, or until all the available funding has been allocated.

Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) board member, Sandra Rothwell, said: “The lack of quality grow-on space is often raised as a real issue by local businesses so this funding is a direct response to that.

“It aims to plug the investment gap when developing new workspace and create a pipeline of quality schemes to help businesses grow.”

For further details, click here.