The government has announced just under £90 million of new funding to support innovative new products in the UK’s manufacturing industry.

Some £61 million of the £89 million pot announced in yesterday’s Autumn Statement will be invested in Catapult centres across the UK.

Catapult centres were created to support high-value manufacturing with advanced equipment and expertise and are currently working with around 2,250 manufacturers.

The rest of the money, £28 million, will be used to build a new research and development centre to boost the creation of formulated products including medicines and chemicals.

Iain Gray, chief executive of Innovate UK, which runs the Catapult programme, said: “This Autumn Statement is a huge vote of confidence in innovative business up and down the country.

“The extra support and new centre in the high value manufacturing Catapult that Innovate UK is setting up shows just how valuable the Catapults are to business, and how successful they have been in transforming the innovation landscape.”