New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership
Investment Appraisal Committee
Wednesday 23
rd
February 2022
TEAMS Meeting
9am to 9:45am
Agenda
No. Item
1. Welcome
Main Agenda
2. Apologies
3. Declarations of Interest
4. Minutes of previous meeting – 26 January 2022
5. Horizon Paper and GPF repayments – Confidential
Reporting: Growing Business Fund
6,
6a-c
Growing Business Fund Programme Performance Report and GBF, SGS and
GTI grant award appendices
6d
Growing Business Fund - Grants by district supported by Growth Deal -
Confidential
6e Growing Business Fund programme graphs
Reporting: Growing Places Fund
7 Growing Places Fund Programme Project RAG ratings Confidential
Items for Discussion
8 Growing Places Fund: FEP Energy project update Confidential
9 Getting Building Fund: Local Full Fibre Network project amendment request
10
Suffolk Inclusive Growth Investment Fund- Round 5 projects for approval
Confidential
Other
11.
Any Other Business
Proposed change to date of next meeting: 23 March 2022 rather than 30 March
2022 to accommodate endorsement of any Yr2 R1 Phase 2 SIGIF projects
before 25 March 2022.
1
Committee Members
Cllr David Ellesmere Ipswich Borough Council
Andrew Proctor Norfolk County Council
Sandy Ruddock Scarlett and Mustard
Alan Waters Norwich City Council
Dominic Keen High Growth Robotics
Kathy Atkinson Kettle Foods Ltd
Martin Williams Williams Business Advisory
Exec Members
Rosanne Wijnberg New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashper New Anglia LEP
Iain Dunnett New Anglia LEP
Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday 30 March 2022. 9am-9:45am
Venue: TEAMS Meeting
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New Anglia Investment Appraisal Committee
Confidential Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)
26
th
January 2022
Present:
Committee Members
Kathy Atkinson (KA) Kettle Foods
David Ellesmere (DE) Ipswich Borough Council
Dominic Keen (DK) High G
r
owth Robotics
A
ndrew Proctor (AP) Norfolk County Council
A
lan Waters (AW) Norwich City Council
Sandy Ruddock (SR) Scarlett & Mustard
Martin Williams (MW) Independent IAC Membe
r
In Attendance
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashpe
r
(CD) New
A
nglia LEP
Iain Dunnett (ID) New
A
nglia LEP
Helen Wilton (HW) New
nglia LEP
Tanya Nelson (TN) New
nglia LEP
Melanie Richardson (MR) New Anglia LEP
ACTIONS
1 Welcome from the Chair
David Ellesmere (DE) welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2 Apologies
None
3 Declarations of Interest
4 Minutes of previous meetings
Apologies from Martin Williams to be added to 9
th
December meeting
5 Horizon Paper and GPF Repayments – Confidential
The Committee agreed:
To note the content of the report
6a-e Reporting: Growing Business Fund
CD advised that if all GPF applications are completed there will be an overspend however this will be offset
by underspend elsewhere. Previously underspend has been rolled over but given the deadline of 31
st
March 2022 this is no longer possible
The final GBF panel was held in January and the final commitment level will be shared shortly and is likely
to be 400-600 underspent which will be offset against the GPF overspend.
CD advised that on completion over £30m will have been allocated from the GBF and publicity is planned
around the completion on the programme.
3
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SGS continues to 2023 but the focus has been on those projects with the March spending deadline
therefore there have not been any recent applications.
A change request has been submitted to slightly change the profile of the GTI scheme to allow for more
approvals.
The meeting discussed the promotion of the achievements including the provision of the complete data to
local authorities.
The Committee agreed:
To note the content of th
e report
7 Reporting: Resilience and Recovery Fund
This is also time limited to the end of March 2022. £189k remains unspent but this amount fluctuates as
some projects drop out and other applications are received.
The Committee agreed:
To note the content of th
e report
8 Reporting: Innovative Projects Fund Calls 1 &2
This project does not have to complete by the end of the financial year. There has been a significant
impact from the pandemic on spend but all projects remain green as claims are now being received.
The Committee agreed:
To note the content of th
e report
9
Committee decisions for review and update: Large Company Grant Scheme and Innovative
Projects Fund - Confidential
The Committee agreed:
To note the content of th
e report
10 AOB
None
4
Approval
Date
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business Size Reason for Support
Apr-21 No approvals in April
May-21
Flexion Global Ltd
£194,700 Small Capital investment to support business growth
May-21
Two Magpies Food Company Ltd
£44,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
May-21
Broadland Radiators & Heat Exchangers Ltd
£25,800 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jun-21
The Essentials Company
£28,369 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jun-21
Weco Engineering Ltd
£60,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jun-21
Albert Bartlett Ltd
£500,000 Large Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21
Mirus Aircraft Seating Ltd (3)
£250,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21
Lockwood Packaging Ltd (2)
£96,300 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Aug-21
No approvals in August
Sep-21
Advanced Engineering (UK) Ltd (2)
£109,200 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Sep-21
Eurowork Space Ltd
£79,866 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Sep-21
Universal Control Equipment Ltd
£40,000 Medium Capital investment to support business growth
Oct-21
Thompson Packaging Ltd
£208,727 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Nov-21
DXB Pump and Power Ltd
£102,261 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Nov-21
Skar Precision Mouldings Limited
£220,000 Medium Capital investment to support business growth
Nov-21 New Form Construction Ltd £120,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Dec-21 Harford Attachments £28,283 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Dec-21 Dunnella Ltd £38,568 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Dec-21 Creative Image Management Ltd £54,200 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Dec-21 Gnaw Chocolate Ltd £91,400 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Dec-21 Laser Patterns Ltd £120,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jan-22 TBI Manufacturing Ltd 30,000 Medium Capital investment to support business growth
Jan-22 The Food Company (UK) Ltd 45,988 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jan-22 Harris Cranes Ltd 19,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Jan-22 Pegasus Profiles Ltd 39,127 Medium Capital investment to support business growth
Total for Growing Business Fund £2,545,789
New Anglia LEP
Growing Business Fund
Grant Approvals - April 2021 to March 2022
9
Date
Approved
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business
Size
Reason for Support
Apr-21 Plantscape Tree Services Ltd £7,951
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 East Anglian Sea School Ltd £4,000
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Freeclix Ltd £10,508
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd (2) £2,372
Micro
Capital and revenue investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Synergy15 Ltd £3,520
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
May-21 No approvals in May
Jun-21 Proteome Ltd £2,616
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Jun-21
Ethnic Fusion Fine Foods Ltd
£2,115
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Jun-21 Van Driel Engineering Ltd £5,503
Small
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21 Resound Sound Ltd £2,260
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21 SwitchboardFREE Ltd £1,585
Small
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21 Titchmarsh & Goodwin Fine Furniture Ltd (3) £2,611
small
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21
Acorn Target Systems Ltd
£2,177
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21 ADP Ltd £2,349
Small
Capital investment to support business growth
Jul-21 Geotekk Ltd £2,869
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Aug-21 Olympic Construction (Norfolk) Limited £19,640
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Sep-21 No approvals in September
Oct-21 No approvals in October
Nov-21 No approvals in November
Dec-21 No approvals in December
Jan-22 JKN Engineering Ltd £10,200 Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Jan-22 Jess Cooks Ltd £6,347 Micro
Revenue investment to support business growth
Total for Small Grant Scheme £88,623
Small Grant Scheme
Grant Approvals April 2021 to March 2022
10
Approval
Date
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business
Size
Reason for Support
Apr-21
PG Products Ltd £16,048 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Raptor Aerospace Ltd £25,000 Micro Capital and Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
UroPharma Ltd £12,065 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
FamilyCarersNet Ltd £24,750 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Bed-Down LLP £22,016 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Make An impact CIC £8,100 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
May-21
IKON Training Limited £8,000 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Jun-21
We Love Pets £8,500 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Jul-21
No approvals in July
Aug-21 No approvals in August
Sep-21
RSR Technology Ltd
£12,276 Micro
Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Oct-21
No approvals in October
Nov-21 CeraPhi Energy Ltd £23,400 Micro
Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Dec-21 ARC Integrated Systems Ltd £15,114 Micro
Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Jan-22 ShrinKit Ltd £23,197 Micro
Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Total for Growth Through innovation £198,466
New Anglia LEP
Growth Through Innovation
Grant Approvals - April 2021 to March 2022
11
Growing Business Fund (£25,000 - £500,000 grants)
Statistics for the period of April 2013 - January 2022
51,900,902
3,360,195
11,135,999
20,136,280
11,565,899
Private Investment (£) - Suffolk
Babergh
Ipswich
Mid Suffolk
West Suffolk
East Suffolk
24,902,102
18,515,553
16,922,020
15,011,271
21,678,562
18,630,881
36,663,317
Private Investment (£) - Norfolk
Breckland
Broadland
Great Yarmouth
King's Lynn &
West Norfolk
North Norfolk
Norwich
South Norfolk
19
8
20
32
39
Number of grants awarded - Suffolk
Babergh
Ipswich
Mid Suffolk
West Suffolk
East Suffolk
40
28
25
28
15
21
37
Number of grants awarded - Norfolk
Breckland
Broadland
Great Yarmouth
King's Lynn &
West Norfolk
North Norfolk
Norwich
South Norfolk
258.5
59.0
198.5
349.0
235.0
Jobs to be created - Suffolk
Babergh
Ipswich
Mid Suffolk
West Suffolk
East Suffolk
373.5
458.5
179.5
293.5
173.6
277.5
604.0
Jobs to be created - Norfolk
Breckland
Broadland
Great Yarmouth
King's Lynn &
West Norfolk
North Norfolk
Norwich
South Norfolk
2,357,079
580,306
1,985,116
3,333,576
2,324,305
Awarded Grants Value (£) - Suffolk
Babergh
Ipswich
Mid Suffolk
West Suffolk
East Suffolk
3,551,193
3,696,875
2,300,440
3,106,502
2,009,643
2,715,458
4,675,598
Awarded Grants Value (£) - Norfolk
Breckland
Broadland
Great Yarmouth
King's Lynn &
West Norfolk
North Norfolk
Norwich
South Norfolk
17
GBF Grants Awarded
Sum of Grant
Awarded
Sum of Private
Match
Sum of Total
Project
Cost
Sum of
Project
Approved
Sum of
FTE
Norfolk
Breckland 3,551,193 24,902,102 28,453,295 40 373.5
Broadland 3,696,875 18,515,553 22,212,428 28 458.5
Great Yarmouth 2,300,440 16,922,020 19,222,460 25 179.5
King's Lynn & West Norfolk 3,106,502 15,011,271 18,117,773 28 293.5
North Norfolk 2,009,643 21,678,562 23,688,205 15 173.6
Norwich 2,715,458 18,630,881 21,346,339 21 277.5
South Norfolk 4,675,598 36,663,317 41,338,915 37 604.0
Norfolk Total 22,055,709 152,323,706 174,379,415 194 2360.1
Suffolk
Babergh 2,357,079 51,900,902 54,257,981 19 258.5
Ipswich 580,306 3,360,195 3,940,501 8 59.0
Mid Suffolk 1,985,116 11,135,999 13,121,115 20 198.5
West Suffolk 3,333,576 20,136,280 23,469,856 32 349.0
East Suffolk 2,324,305 11,565,899 13,902,704 39 235.0
Suffolk Total 10,580,382 98,099,275 108,692,157 118 1100.0
Grand Total 32,636,091 250,422,981 283,071,572 312 3,460.1
Norfolk Total 22,055,709 152,323,706 174,379,415 194 2,360.1
Suffolk Total 10,580,382 98,099,275 108,692,157 118 1,100.0
Total 32,636,091 250,422,981 283,071,572 312 3,460.1
Norfolk Total
68%
Suffolk Total
32%
Awarded Grants Value (£)
Norfolk Total
Suffolk Total
Norfolk Total
61%
Suffolk Total
39%
Private Investment(£)
Norfolk Total
Suffolk Total
Norfolk Total
62%
Suffolk Total
38%
Number of grants awarded
Norfolk Total
Suffolk Total
Norfolk
Total
68%
Suffolk Total
32%
Jobs to be created
Norfolk Total
Suffolk Total
18
New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership
Investment Appraisal Committee
Wednesday 23 February 2022
Agenda Item 9
Getting Building Fund: Proposed Changes to Norfolk’s Local Full Fibre
Network Project
Author and presenter: Jonathan Rudd
Summary
In August 2020, Norfolk County Council were awarded £2,054,320 of Getting Building Fund
toward an extension to their exiting Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) programme to deliver
ultrafast broadband services to rural communities.
Of an original 100 sites, 14 have needed to be withdrawn from the project and the overall
cost of delivery has fallen roughly £400,000.
The IAC are asked to consider the inclusion of an element of Fixed Wireless Access in the
project to extend superfast/ultrafast broadband access into rural areas of Norfolk as an
alternative to the Local Full Fibre Network enhancements.
Recommendation
The IAC are recommended to approve the deallocation of £400,000 from the Getting
Building Fund grant offer of £2,054,320 for the delivery of the Local Full Fibre Network.
The funding will be re-apportioned within the project to support the delivery of Fixed Wireless
Access to extend superfast/ultrafast broadband access to rural areas of Norfolk where
enhancements to the local full fibre network are no longer deliverable or do not represent the
most appropriate solution to improving the broadband speed and coverage.
Background
Better Broadband for Norfolk (BBfN) is a multi-million-pound programme for transforming
broadband speeds across the county, principally by installing high-speed fibre optic
networks.
It uses public subsidy to invest in broadband infrastructure for areas that are not
commercially viable for broadband infrastructure providers.
As part of this programme, Norfolk secured £7m funding from the Department for Digital
Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for its LFFN to connect high speed fibre to 318 public
sector locations across the county. This was to improve the digital connectivity, efficiency
23
and effectiveness of public sector services, but also increase opportunities for residents and
businesses in those areas to take advantage of the extended fibre network.
In June 2020, NCC proposed to extend this LFFN initiative by a further 100 public buildings
through its application for Getting Building Funding from the LEP. This was intended to
deliver ultrafast broadband to the curtilage of 100 sites across Norfolk such as village halls
with parish councils to allow installation of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) services within rural
communities not otherwise commercially attractive to the private sector.
Project initiation, ordering and planning took place in late 2020 and early 2021. Installation
works began in Q1 of the 2021-22 financial year. Works had been completed to 27 sites by
the end of Q2 2021-22, although a number of sites had to be withdrawn from the project,
either because they would be covered by a commercial build or the site had been closed.
Current Position
As of Q3 2021-22, installation work had been completed at 58 sites, enabling at least 391
new super/ultrafast broadband connections.
However, seven of the original 100 sites will now be covered by an Openreach commercial
build programme, four sites have closed since the project started and three cannot be
completed as intended due to excessive build works and one with incorrect address data.
This has reduced the number of sites to 85.
The anticipated costs of managing the project have also fallen, which is likely to result in an
approximate £400,000 underspend.
Proposal
To effectively utilise these remaining funds and add value to the LFFN project, NCC propose
extending its scope and scale to provide comparable broadband internet access using Fixed
Wireless Access (FWA) that employs mobile network technology as an alternative to the
fibre network. This would deliver comparable broadband speeds.
This proposal aims to build and operate a FWA Network which will deliver Gigabit capable
connectivity to Public Building Sites in Villages (including Village Halls and Schools),
creating local digital hubs which in turn will empower local residents, businesses and the
public sector and become a catalyst to attract fibre and wireless to benefit the wider
community. This would be;
1. A council owned FWA network to be maintained by local companies which can drive
digital, economic and social outcomes for rural communities.
2. A Sustainable model which can be replicated and built upon based on this
deployment.
This would be achieved in 2 phases:
Phase One - Pilot
Deliver a Fixed Wireless Access solution to 4-5 Village Hall/Community Facilities
in an area poorly served by broadband - North Norfolk,
Deploy industry recognised hardware – Ubiquity Band E FWA Hardware
Network Design (identifying the most appropriate site to deliver LOS
Connectivity),
24
Identify Access to Broadband Connectivity – Access to Backhaul (Public Sector
Site),
Explore and utilise suitable Public Sector Sites as Hub Sites (Fire Towers)
Access to power consumption,
Deployment, Testing and future maintenance and support to be undertaken by a
Commercial Third Party,
Work with the Schools, Parish Councils & the Rural Business Community,
Delivery of a Village Hall Digital Hub Model – Public Services,
Workspace/Business Hub/Digital Skills.
Phase Two – Wider Deployment
Extend Scale of Deployment to a further 15-20 Sites,
Development of User Model (Village Halls – what worked and what did not
work?),
Progress the transferrable nature of the network architecture and consider how
this could be utilised as a temporary solution which could be moved when areas
are enabled by FTTP to areas still awaiting such an investment.
Indicative Cost
Expenditure category Description Amount
Project Management Governance £30,000
Design Survey Delivery £30,000
Hardware & Installation
Cost per Site; £17,000
(Ubiquity E Band 70GHz Hardware,
Frequency Licence, Pole, Cabling
& Installation)
Delivery £340,000
Individual, community & business
engagement (through existing channels)
Engagement NA
Total: £400,000
Support for Economic Strategy
This project was intended to create digital hubs within rural communities in more remote
areas and thereby support local economic growth. Although the nature of the practical
solution has changed, the provision of FWA to enable faster broadband connectivity still
achieves equivalent outcomes:
Improve superfast/ultrafast broadband access to rural areas of Norfolk,
increasing provision beyond the forecasts of the original LFFN project.
Work with local Communities and Businesses to make best use of the Digital
Hub Capability.
Support Local Rural Businesses to grow.
Stimulate investment to enhance connectivity to businesses, which may use
voucher schemes and private investment.
Enable digital skills through virtual training and support for Schools, improving
life chances for pupils.
Points of presence within village halls to support the delivery of healthcare,
virtual solutions & distance diagnostics.
Enable local Tourism in North Norfolk.
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Financial impact
The proposed change to the project will be managed as part of the existing grant allocation
of £2,054,320 awarded from the Getting Building Fund to the Local Full Fibre Network
project.
There is no financial impact on any other current or pipeline LEP project as a result of this
proposed re-apportionment of the eligible costs of the project.
All Getting Building Fund project grants must be defrayed by 31 March 2022. There are no
alternative projects available and able to defray in the time available, therefore any
underspend in this project will be repaid to government unless the funding is re-apportioned
within the project.
Recommendation
The IAC are recommended to approve the deallocation of £400,000 from the Getting
Building Fund grant offer of £2,054,320 for the delivery of the Local Full Fibre Network.
The funding will instead be re-apportioned within the project to support the delivery of Fixed
Wireless Access to extend superfast/ultrafast broadband access to rural areas of Norfolk
where enhancements to the local full fibre network are no longer deliverable or do not
represent the most appropriate solution to improving the broadband speed and coverage.
26