Local and regional newspapers are being credited with helping to create thousands of jobs across the UK by distributing government cash to small businesses.
Eight regional newspapers and publishers have been involved in the scheme to allocate Regional Growth Fund cash.
They include the Express & star, Wolverhampton, the Evening Gazette, Teesside, The Journal, Newcastle, the Liverpool Echo, Lincolnshire Echo and Birmingham Post.
The Carlisle-based CN Group, which publishes the North West Evening Mail and News and Star, Carlisle, was also involved in the initiative.
In the North East, the Evening Gazette and Journal have between them awarded £20m to businesses across the region creating 1,700 jobs and safeguarding a further 900.
The papers have now opened the third round of bidding for the remaining £10m in the region’s £30m RGF cash pot.
Businesses across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset have benefited from the Western Morning News’ involvement in the RGF which has seen 259 jobs created to date.
Working with Plymouth University, the paper secured £3.9m from the RGF and has awarded grants to 26 West Country businesses in total, unlocking an additional £3m in private sector funding.
The Express & Star has teamed up with the University of Wolverhampton to distribute £1.4m of RGF cash and last week its Green Shoots Fund made its first two grants.
And the Liverpool Echo’s £1m Business Booster fund – backed by Lord Heseltine – was allocated to firms in the area earlier this year and the paper is now running stories on the successful businesses.
The Birmingham Post Growth Fund has £5m of RGF cash to distribute to local businesses and £700,000 of that was shared between 10 businesses at the paper’s Investors’ Fortress event.
It will see 84 jobs created and is also set to create more than 100 additional apprenticeships. The target for the total fund is to create 250 jobs.
In the North West, 35 jobs are being created after nearly £300,000 was allocated to four Cumbrian businesses from a £4m RGF pot distributed by the CN Group and other local organisations under the banner ‘Unleashing Cumbria’s Potential.’
The Lincolnshire Echo has £1m to distribute to local businesses.
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What enormous comfort this must be to the hundreds of staff these newspapers have sent to the scrapheap.
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Any one of us could “help create thousands of jobs” if we too were given the millions in government cash. Local PR firms, design/marketing agencies, small, but profitable, local papers etc. staffed by the redundant talent from supposedly local titles, just for starters.
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