These centres will bring thousands of skilled jobs and training prospects to our district, as well as supply chain opportunities for local companies.

Behind the scenes Warwick District Council has played a significant role in enabling both the Rosalind Franklin Diagnostic Testing Laboratory (Leamington Spa) and UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (Baginton) to set up in the area.

In addition to the opening of two of the UK’s most strategically important new facilities, this week has also seen the submission of a planning application for the West Midlands Battery Giga Factory in the District, which follows the recent approval of an application for Spencer Yard to become a business location for the Creative Quarter in Leamington Spa.

With further significant investment decisions expected in the next few weeks, the Leader of Warwick District Council, Councillor Andrew Day believes that the District is in good shape:

“This Council’s ambition and dedicated efforts over many years are behind the success in gaining this level of step-change inward investment. To have just one national centre of excellence locating to the district would be a good result, but two is an outstanding achievement.”

“I would like to pay tribute to the high-quality service given by our staff, and the collaborative cross-party leadership of fellow Councillors who have worked together to make this happen. It was tough to get our Local Plan in place, engaging with neighbouring local authorities to take a shared view of future development and infrastructure. But the rigours of this testing process are clearly paying dividends locally today.”

“These two national centres are at the forefront of science, technology and research bringing with them skilled employment, training and supply chain opportunities. Our District is now well-placed to take advantage of these growing sectors of the UK economy. These projects will also play a key role in responding to the climate emergency benefitting our local area for many generations to come.”