GE Aviation in Cheltenham gets £1.25m in government funds

GE Aviation develops new technology for the defence aviation industry

An aviation firm in Gloucestershire is set to create new jobs and technology with £1.25m in government funding.

GE Aviation in Bishop's Cleeve creates and builds electrical power systems for defence and civilian aircraft.

Vice president of GE Aviation, Simon Linacre, said the money would enable the firm to create products that reduce emissions from aircraft.

A total of £72m from the Regional Growth Fund has been shared out across firms in the West Country.

"Instead of being reliant on jet fuel to generate all of your electricity on the aircraft, this is about putting new sources of power on the aircraft and selecting the most appropriate source of power during the flight," added Mr Linacre.

The firm aims to create 25 engineering jobs in the product development stages.

Up to 100 manufacturing jobs could be created in the long term if the product is successfully developed and used on aircraft.

GE Aviation has said the first stage is likely to take between three and four years and the next stage will last about eight years.

Two months ago, the firm also received government funding to create apprenticeship programmes.