Business predicting growth after getting grant
Bernard Holmes Precision Limited, a well-established Lincolnshire engineering firm, is predicting a large increase in turnover having benefitted from Grants4Growth, a grant fund aimed at helping local businesses grow.
The initiative, which is run by South Holland District Council and funded by the European Regional Development Fund, was set up specifically to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greater Lincolnshire to invest in their future, grow and create local jobs.
The Billingborough based company, which manufactures specialist precision components, needed to expand and create extra capacity when it was approached by one of its customers and asked to take on more work.
The investment was sizable but thanks to the support of the Grants4Growth team the business was able to secure a grant of over £20,000 in July and purchase a Matsuura machining centre.
Kay Pryszlak, director of Bernard Holmes Precision Ltd, was particularly impressed with the grant application process, which she felt was both quick and easy.
Kay said: "Small businesses don't have time for lots of forms or unnecessary red tape. Once they've made a decision they need to move quickly so opportunities aren't lost"
"We were introduced to a Grants4Growth Business Broker who guided us through the whole process and within a couple of days our application was in. Two weeks later we had our grant offer and were able to place the order".
She added: "The new machinery has helped us increase our productivity by reducing machining downtime and increasing our manufacturing capacity."
"As a result we are now forecasting an increase in turnover of between 10 to 20 per cent and plan to create an additional two or three new jobs in the near future."
Grants4Growth offers eligible businesses grant funding towards the cost of purchasing machinery, equipment and other physical business assets. It can provide funding of up to 28% of the total costs, with grants of between £1,000 and £25,000.
The grant is available to all eligible business based within the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership area, including North and North East Lincs, who have plans to grow and need to invest in capital assets to make it happen.
The eligibility criteria for the grant application include:
Businesses with a turnover of less than £44 million a year
Businesses who employ less than 250 employees
To date the Grants4Growth programme has approved over 40 applications for grant funding, committing over £300,000. 20 companies have completed their purchase of new equipment, accessing over £140,000 and already creating 15 new jobs.
Some examples of the type of machinery purchased using Grants4Growth funds include Spray booths, CNC machines, Industrial Printers, Prototype Tooling, Packaging equipment and Forklift trucks.
Businesses can apply to access the Grants4Growth funding opportunity through their online expression of interest form at grants4growth.sholland.gov.uk.