Construction firm, Laing O'Rourke, has scooped a £22.1m government grant, as part of its Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).

Administered by Finance Birmingham, the four-year grant is towards a £104m scheme for the advanced manufacturing of homes, buildings and infrastructure, supporting research and development, investment in new manufacturing facilities and training.

The project work streams will address research into modular design and manufacturing, and will also cover structured training initiatives, providing the existing workforce and new recruits with skills around digital engineering, the manufacturing process and installation.

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Stephen Harley, Director of Advanced Manufacturing at Laing O'Rourke, said: "We estimate that it will create over 600 new, direct jobs and as many as 1,000 across the diverse supply chain. Our consortium of 22 partners integrates the design, manufacturing and assembly construction supply chain with leading research institutions to create a new platform for collaborative innovation.

"The investment is potentially great news for our ability to help address the UK's housing capacity gap of some 60,000 to 100,000 homes annually, with advanced off-site manufacturing and digital engineering speeding up the provision of affordable, high quality accommodation."

(CD/JP)