Businesses in Kent and the south east have received £60 million from the Regional Growth Fund.

The Government said the projects would create or safeguard 8,400 jobs over 10 years, and the scheme would leverage £370m of private investment over a similar period.

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, announced that nationally 102 companies and projects that applied for funding in Round Four of the RGF bidding process had been successful, following the most competitive round of the Fund so far. The companies will take a share of a £506 million pot of funding to attract significant private sector investment and create thousands of jobs across the country.

The Government said Round 4 projects and programmes nationally would leverage £2.8 billion of additional private sector investment and create or safeguard 77,000 jobs. The new private sector investment boosts the total over the four rounds to £15 billion.

The Expansion East Kent programme (EEK) run by Kent County Council received £40 million from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF). £35 million of which is providing support to businesses in East Kent, an area affected by the winding down of the Pfizer pharmaceuticals facility, now known as Discovery Park. The fund went live in April 2012 and is on track to meet its targets for allocation. It is hoped the initiative will lead to around 5,000 additional jobs in East Kent.

East Kent recipients include Cummins Power Generation at Manston and H V Wooding, Hythe. The Expansion East Kent programme has committed funding to seven companies, with a further nine projects in the pipeline.

HV Wooding, a family-run precision engineering businesses, received £1.1m. The firm worked on the Olympic Village construction and is currently supplying components to the latest Royal Navy aircraft carriers. It is using the money to expand operations in India, Malaysia and France.

The company has invested £350k in new machinery after winning a prestigious contract from CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. The RGF award is helping the company with its expansion plans and the recruitment of at least 16 further staff.

Business Minister Michael Fallon, MP for Sevenoaks, visited the company earlier in the year. At the launch of KCC’s Grow for It in East Kent campaign in the London Stock Exchange, Mr Fallon said: “East Kent is out in front as an area that is delivering on the potential of the Regional Growth Fund. I have had the chance to see for myself innovative, world-leading manufacturing companies such as HV Wooding and Aeromet, which are benefiting from the Regional Growth Fund to grow and create new jobs.

“The region has the drive, resourcefulness and companies to thrive in the coming years, and demonstrates why it’s so important that areas such as east Kent are given the influence to determine their own economic future.”

Firms with high-growth potential are set to benefit from Escalate, an Innovation and Growth Fund using RGF money and with Kent County Council loan support.

Meanwhile, applications for so-called TIGER funding - £20m from the RGF for businesses in Medway and Kent Thameside - are under consideration. Some 20 Medway firms have applied so far for interest-free loans. "Early signs are very encouraging," said Robin Cooper, Medway council's director of regeneration, community and culture.