£4 million injection for motorcycle manufacturers

The UK automotive industry has had another boost as iconic British manufacturer Norton Motorcycles Ltd receives £4 million from the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

This new grant will create 600 new jobs, including 200 new apprentices, over 5 years and will support the construction of a new British Motorcycle Manufacturing Academy. Based at Norton Motorcycle’s headquarters in Donnington Park, the new academy will train and supply a new generation of engineers to Norton Motorcycles and it’s 11 other supply chain partners.  Norton Motorcycle Chief Executive, Stuart Garner said:

Norton is an iconic British brand revered around the world. We’ve worked steadfastly in the last six years to bring Norton back with an authentic British built motorcycle. Training and skills are key to our industry. Putting down a dedicated Academy for the British motorcycle industry finally gives us a sustainable future. To see solid government support for the manufacturing industry like this is hugely heart-warming and gives us great confidence in bringing the industry back to the UK, creating jobs, learning forgotten skills and enabling exports around the world – all in the full knowledge that we have great support and a solid base back home.

In addition to building a new academy, the money will also help build a new 10,000 sq. feet manufacturing facility which will help develop clean motorcycle engine technology in the UK which willpower a new green motorcycle within 2 years.

This positive news comes at the same time as Europe’s fastest growing coach manufacturer Alexander Dennis announced a powerful new alliance with the world’s largest electric bus manufacturer BYD. The move follows confirmation by Go-Ahead London that they are to introduce 51 emission-free, pure electric buses on routes 507 and 521, which operate between Waterloo and Victoria. Once all 51 buses are operational, this new deal worth £19 million will see London have the largest such fleet in the whole of Europe.

The continued investment in the UK automotive industry demonstrates that the UK is an attractive place to do business and helps the UK become a thriving Propulsion Nation. To date, the APC has invested in 10 major low carbon propulsion projects worth more than £174 million which will secure or create more than 4,500 jobs in the UK and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 12 million tonnes, equivalent to the CO2 emissions from 630,000 new cars, every year, for the next 12 years.

The fourth APC funding competition (APC4) offering collaborative consortia the opportunity to have access to APC resources closed on 1st July 2015 and the results will be announced in Autumn 2015.