Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg today announced an additional £300 million funding for the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), which has a central role of boosting regional businesses.

Total funding for RGF now stands at £2.85 billion, which since 2010 has been invested in regional companies to help them expand, train employees and take on new recruits.

Business will benefit from the funding across all industries, according to official sources, with £1.1 billion invested in manufacturing, including £364 million in automotive, £100 million in aerospace and £104 million for low carbon enterprises.

Today’s announcement means 63 new projects will be awarded £297 million in new money. The funding is expected to unlock a further £1.5 billion in additional private sector money.

Ministers also said the investment would safeguard thousands of regional jobs.

Making the announcement, Nick Clegg said: After decades of regional economies being neglected I set about investing directly in local businesses via the Regional Growth Fund.

“This investment has allowed regional businesses to be more ambitious than ever before and gone a long way in creating a stronger economy.

“A stronger economy means providing equal opportunity for everyone across the UK, rather than solely relying on the city of London to bolster UK business.

“The success of the RGF is proof that putting money in the hands of local businesses helps them flourish and creates opportunities for more people to work locally.”

The government says that the private sector invests £5.50 for every £1 of public money ploughed into UK regions.

Rough maths means the total RGF fund is attracting £16 billion of private company money.