MANUFACTURERS in York and North Yorkshire are being urged to tap into funds totally £4.5 million to support offshore wind growth.

The GROW:OffshoreWind service is giving York manufacturers the chance access two fast-track funding calls worth a combined £4.5m to help them exploit opportunities in the UK’s offshore wind market, with is estimated to be worth up to £15 billion in the domestic manufacturing industry.

The first fast-track funding call, which is supported by programme partner RenewableUK, is valued at up to £2.5 million and has been directed to support small and medium companies with their capital investment plans.

Through partnership with the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, a second fast-track fund totalling £2 million has also been made available to help SMEs enterprises accelerate their investment in innovation projects.

Both calls are seeking applications from York and North Yorkshire companies which can utilise this funding over the next six months. Applications will be assessed on their ability to create jobs and develop market presence in the offshore wind supply chain, with expression of interest applications to be submitted by October 15.

Successful applicants will be required to have substantively completed their projects by April 30, 2015.

The GROW:OffshoreWind programme is supported by the Government's Regional Growth Fund and is delivered by industry experts from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), RenewableUK (RUK), Grant Thornton and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Full details on both calls and application forms can be found on the GROW:OffshoreWind website- www.growoffshorewind.com