More than £1m in grants has been channelled to companies in the past year in a bid to build a lower carbon economy in the Solent region.
The funding, which supports more than 80 jobs, has been enabled through Future Solent, a partnership of business leaders, local authorities and green technology experts keen to stimulate sustainable growth while reducing our carbon footprint.
Details of the partnership’s Green Growth fund and the opportunities it is creating for business will be a key subject under discussion at the Future Solent annual conference in Portsmouth on Friday, 7 November.
The all-day event comes exactly a year after the Department for Business Innovation and Skills awarded a funding package to stimulate investment in small businesses developing low carbon technologies, jobs and skills.
The award was announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable on a visit to Future Solent’s 2013 conference.
Jimmy Chestnutt, Future Solent Chairman, said: “This year’s conference will showcase the various projects that the funding has been committed to and the jobs and skills being created. A positive and exciting low carbon story is emerging in our region which is indicative of what can be achieved with suitable support.”
Another key focus of the event will be the unveiling of a wider energy strategy designed to attract further inward investment.
Mr Chestnutt added: “Our conference will offer a unique chance for Solent businesses, academics and the public sector to network and feedback to their own organisations on the green initiatives going on.”
Board members of Future Solent include representatives from Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, the universities of Southampton and Portsmouth, Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, and PUSH, the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire. Also involved are the companies IBM, Bouygues UK and GEP Environmental.
Conference sponsors are the utility providers Scottish and Southern Energy and Southern Water.
Alongside the conference will be an exhibition of green technology initiatives from a range of organisations.
The conference, titled ‘Energising the Solent’, takes place at Action Stations in Portsmouth Dockyard, on Friday, 7 November.
