Chippenham will receive part of the government’s £900m Getting Building Fund investment to create the Business Cyber Centre.

It was announced that Chippenham is set to see £3.7m investment from the government for the Business Cyber Centre – the case for which was pushed by Michelle Donelan MP.

The Business Cyber Centre aims to create 250 jobs in the area with 45 already secured.

Michelle Donelan said she has ‘long championed Wiltshire as a ‘hub of STEM and digital innovation’ and believes that the more investment will help Chippenham ‘lead the way in cyber’.

“This money from the Conservative government will create 250 job and 1700 training opportunities a year,” she said.

“The development will attract further investment into the constituency and other businesses will hopefully see a positive effect from the arrival of the Business Cyber Centre.”

The building will be home to a cyber response team; an academy and employment hub; and an accelerator and will seek to close the cyber skills gap.

As a ‘centre of excellence’ it will complement existing courses and qualifications in Wiltshire and help to attract more specialist expertise to the area.

The centre will ‘proactively’ seek out candidates from underrepresented groups and those leave the military who are looking to retrain.

A government spokesman said: “The centre facilitates secure operation across a flexible workforce by opening remote-working employment opportunities.

“The Business Cyber Centre levels-up the UK Cyber presence as a rural hub for businesses.”

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “As we get Britain building we are also laying the foundations for a green economic recovery by investing in vital infrastructure for local communities, creating jobs and building environmentally-friendly homes with a huge £1.3billion investment announced today.

“This government is determined to level up all parts of the country and this funding will not only give a much-needed boost to our economic recovery, it will help build the good-quality, affordable homes the country needs.”

The £3.7m in funding was released as part of the government Getting Building Fund for ‘shovel-ready’ projects across the length and breadth of the country.