KEIGHLEY will boldly go where no Northern town has gone before after Council bosses agreed to £4.5m funding to help a US company set up a space testing centre in Keighley.
On Tuesday Bradford Council’s Executive voted to award cash from the Keighley Local Regeneration Fund grant towards the Space Test North Centre in the town’s Providence Park.
The centre is expected to cost a total of £9m, and will be developed by BSC Filters part of the US based Dover Corporation.
The company will fund the remainder of the costs.
But at the Executive meeting, one Councillor questioned why a multinational organisation would need a £4.5 grant to allow it to invest in Keighley.
The funding will come from a pot of Government cash that was awarded to the town for regeneration purposes.
A report to the executive said BSC Filters credentials include the development of the Skynet 6A satellite.
Talks between the Council and the company began in 2024.
It added:
“To support growth in the space and satellite communications market, the company will invest in specialist manufacturing and testing capacity.
“Subject to grant support, BSC Filters will establish a long-term base in Keighley on a ten-year lease, choosing to invest in Bradford District rather than overseas.
“Public intervention is required for this project to address the viability gap.”
At the Executive meeting Dave Shepherd, Director for Place, said there were 143 existing space-related businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber, and the new Keighley development would put the town at the heart of the emerging industry.
He added:
“It would offer a service not available anywhere else in the North of England.
“But this will not proceed without public investment.
"It will re-establish Keighley’s reputation for engineering, and will position Keighley at the forefront of the UK’s fastest growing industry.”
Councillor Andrew Judson (Reform) Portfolio Holder for Economy, Regeneration and Planning, said:
“We have consistently said Bradford is open for business.
"The proposal is about creating high quality jobs – talented young people in the town will be able to build careers without having to leave the District.”
Councillor Caroline Firth (Lab, Keighley East) said:
“This is a wonderful investment opportunity for Keighley.
“My question is, this is a relatively small about of money when the parent company made £8.4 billion revenue in 2024 when these discussions started.
“Why isn’t the parent company funding this themselves?”
Mr Shepherd said some details of the deal could not be discussed in a public meeting, but added:
“With all organisations there is a huge competition for capital on numerous projects.
“Whilst the optic of large, multi national corporations asking for grant support to do a project is one that might sometime be questioned, there is lots of evidence that sometimes government intervention through grant support is required.
“There is investment being made here that is of use to wider beneficiaries than just the company itself.
"Universities, supply chain companies, and we want this facility to magnetise companies that may not otherwise come to the UK or the North or Keighley to be attracted here because this facility is available.”
Councillor Ian Eglin, Portfolio Holder ,Corporate Resources, said:
“This is risk free for the Council, it is a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government grant. It is low risk for the Council, and sometimes businesses have to take risks.”
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