BUILDING on Brighouse’s manufacturing heritage will be one of the key parts of a £19 million plan to improve the town.

The investment through The Brighouse Deal will be used to develop skills, fund apprenticeships and allow local businesses to see how technology can support business productivity and efficiency.

It will be a pilot to test out the best working models and practices businesses can use to help them grow and encourage other firms to consider setting up in the town.

Brighouse secured the investment from the Government's Towns Funds, announced last year.

The money will be used to increase capacity for apprentices in the town; develop a new Brighouse Industrial Hub which will showcase new advanced manufacturing methods; and to invest in innovation by encouraging more research and development in existing firms and attracting knowledge-intensive businesses to the area.

David Whitehead, co-chair of The Brighouse Town Deal Board and managing director of Brighouse-based specialist textile finishers H & C Whitehead, said: “This part of the UK is known around the globe as being a centre of manufacturing innovation. The towers of Sugdens Flour Mill are an enduring testament to Brighouse’s leadership in industrial revolutions of the past and we now have the opportunity of continuing to be a leader today.

“To achieve that, we need to invest in both technology and equipment and people and skills. The Brighouse Deal will do that by funding the apprenticeships and help businesses understand new methods of using data intelligence to allow their businesses to grow and others to move to this area or set up, creating jobs and opportunities. "

Find out more details about The Brighouse Deal here.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.