A £4 MILLION cash boost is set to support growth in Bucks’ creative sector – with projects in Beaconsfield and High Wycombe to benefit.

The funding was announced by chair of the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP) Andrew M Smith at the Creative LEP Local Industries Partnership in Birmingham this month.

The cash will help support three new initiatives which aim to strengthen and build the county’s creative sector.

Britain’s first ever national hub for training, experimentation and production in immersive technologies like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality will be set up at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield thanks to a grant of more than £288,000.

The hub is set to be called the National Centre for Immersive Storytelling and will be based at their Station Road complex.

Meanwhile £1,645,000 is being ploughed into a project called Bucks Creates @ Pinewood involved Bucks New University.

A full suite of 21 new masters and bachelor’s degree programmes will be created in the area, as well as a new professional higher education work-learning centre.

Meanwhile, £2 million will go to the University of Buckingham, creating a School of Computing and Centre for AI, which will provide training and applied research.

Mr Smith said: “Buckinghamshire’s creative sector is world-renowned and we want to do everything we can to support and continue its growth.

“Funding these three major projects will help to unlock long term impact for the local economy and support the delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

“We are delighted to start work with our partners on these exciting new projects.”

Digital and Creative Industries Minister, Margot James, said: “Buckinghamshire is a hotbed for the creative industries and it’s fantastic to see even more investment being made in the area to grow and nurture new talent.

“Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are making sure that the UK is a world leader for the creative sector and an industry that will continue to go from strength to strength.”

As part of the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Growth Corridor, BTVLEP was selected as one of the trailblazing areas to deliver the National Industrial Strategy.

To help deliver the strategy, BTVLEP sought proposals for business and skills capital projects that support the development of innovation and research in Buckinghamshire, aligned to the five foundations and four grand challenges of the National Industrial Strategy.

The submissions were independently assessed and selected based on strategic fit, economic impact, type of funding required and value for money, deliverability and sustainability.

BTVLEP is a business-led Local Enterprise Partnership which promotes economic growth and prosperity. Bucks is a significant wealth generator for the UK economy, and the commitment of over £73m in Local Growth Funds is unleashing creativity in the county.