First business growth fund awards create 95 jobs and bring £2m investment
Nine small and medium sized businesses in the South West have been granted a total of £843,223 in the first round of Plymouth University's growth fund awards.
The grants will create 95 jobs in the next two years and unlock an additional £1.1 million of private sector investment.
The funding follows a successful £3.9 million bid to the Government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF) from Plymouth University. It is expected to benefit around 75 businesses across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, creating almost 500 jobs including 323 directly, and a further 166 in the supply chain. Funding takes the form of grants of between £25,000 and £150,000.
Successful applicants in the first round include Honiton-based Otter Brewery, which will increase production capacity through the installation of specialist technology; Underhill Engineering, which plans to develop a coating facility at its base in Plymouth, and marine electronics company Scanstrut of Totnes, whose project will see the design, development and manufacture of an innovative range of protective cases for IT devices.
The fund opened for business in January and by late April had received 165 detailed expressions of interest from across the region, with nearly 90 more in working draft stage. Further funding decisions are expected in June and September.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate how investment will lead to rapid job creation through the delivery of a specific project within a 12 month period. The fund's steering group reviewed 19 first round applications and had to make difficult decisions over which to award grants.
Professor Julian Beer, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Regional Enterprise at Plymouth University, said: "We have experienced huge demand and have been consistently impressed by the quality, ambition and diversity of applicants. The availability of finance is still one of the biggest stumbling blocks to business growth but the appetite is there and we're delighted to be creating almost 100 jobs in the first round and playing a key role in the economic growth of our region."
The majority of the 95 jobs are expected to be created in the first 12 months, with the potential knock on effect of a further 40-50 in the local supply chain.
The fund is a key component of GAIN, the Growth Acceleration and Investment Network set up by Plymouth University, Plymouth City Council and the Tamar Science Park to drive business growth and job creation across the South West.
The fund follows the success of the University's first growth fund, which was awarded £1 million of RGF funding in August 2011. This has supported 20 South West businesses with an average grant of £46,000 and created 76 new jobs to date, with the team confident it will create around 10 more by July - smashing the original target of 50.
The Successful Bids:
Colour Express A £160k project involving the purchase of equipment that will enable this small business to deliver a large contract and continue to grow, in parallel, other markets. Profiled to create 8 jobs over the next 2 years. Plymouth.
COSMIC A £120k project that will see this social enterprise continuously train primarily young people to work as commercial IT advisors and provide It services to unserved or under-served businesses. Profiled to create 13 businesses over the next 2 years. Honiton.
Original Pasty House A £120k project enabling this small food and drink retail business to expand through bringing redundant space in a building back into productive economic use. Profiled to create 15 jobs in the next 2 years. Tavistock and Plymouth.
Otter Brewery A £138k capital project to increase the production capacity of the brewery through the installation of specialist technology that will enable greater volumes of their waste to be processed naturally. Profiled to create 6 jobs in the next 2 years. Honiton
Plymouth Kitchen Company A £120k project that will create a showroom for this specialist kitchen design, manufacture and fitting business. Profiled to create 7 jobs in the next 3 years.
Rebecca Garrett Media A £220k project to rapidly grow the staff team at this innovative media business. Profiled to create 9 jobs in the next 2 years. Tamar Science Park, Plymouth.
Scanstrut A £345k project to design, develop and manufacture premium cases for a range of IT devices including the iPad and iPhone, using this marine electronics installations business' experience to produce cases capable of protecting the devices in a wide range of extreme environments. Profiled to create 11 jobs over the next 2 years. Totnes.
Teignbridge Propellers £350k project creating a specialist manufacturing cell for producing large propeller shafts up to 400mm diameter and up to 15m in length. This will bring in-house work that previously had to be undertaken outside of the region. Profiled to create 9 jobs over the next 2 years.
Underhill Engineering A £420k project to enable this established high value engineering and manufacturing business to develop an in-house specialist coatings facility - processes that previously had to be undertaken outside of the region. Profiled to create 17 jobs in the next 2 years. Plymouth.
