A Government investment of £950 million will help create and safeguard more than 200,000 jobs across England, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has annouced.

The second round of the Government’s £1.4 billion Regional Growth Fund (RGF) will support 119 bids from businesses and local partnerships with projects to expand their operations, create new jobs and attract private investment. Discussions are ongoing with a further 10 bidders about their projects.

Of the 201,000 jobs created or protected, around 37,000 will be directly created jobs, and more than 164,000 will be in the supply chain. The Government investment will support nearly £6 billion of private investment secured by the successful projects.