Manufacturer lands £100,000 Midlands Engine funding
A Northants business which supplies metal plan chests and bespoke storage cabinets to UK museums has received a £100,000 funding boost.
The cash has come through Enterprise Loans East Midlands (ELEM) and finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).
Corby-based Metalico specialises in manufacturing large format storage for museums, archives and libraries and has supplied its bespoke designs to, among others, the Natural History Museum, Tate Britain, the Ashmolean Museum and the National Museum of Scotland.
Jonathan Hall, managing director at Metalico, said: “Metalico has been trading for more than 30 years and our resellers supply to not only the UK but all over the world. Therefore, the likelihood of seeing our cabinets in any museum or library is pretty high.
“We’ve had some pretty interesting jobs over the years – a particular recent highlight was a bespoke cabinet we made for the Natural History Museum to store some extra-large fossils – but we felt like the business needed to step up its game in order to remain competitive.
“I’d been following the news around the MEIF for a while so once the loan fund was announced we got in touch. We are using our loan funding to look at marketing and branding, but also improving production and product development.
“So far, we have invested in new branding, including a website and marketing collateral. The next step will be to improve the marketing of Metalico, alongside updating our equipment and computer systems.
“We really liked the approach that Enterprise Loans took with the loan application, especially the panel interview which was made up of really interesting people from a marketeer to an accountant. The team’s input really helped shape our business strategy and finalise our application and we’ve already used some of the money we borrowed to implement their ideas.”
Victoria Copestake, business development manager at Enterprise Loans, said: “Metalico is well established in the market, but it did need a brand refresh – its marketing materials in particular needed an extensive update. The firm is well organised and boasts loyal staff, with some members of the team having been there for more than 30 years.
“The business works within a very niche area, but I’m confident there is lots of room to grow and attract new clients which is where the investment into updating marketing, branding and improving production will really show it’s worth.”
Lewis Stringer, senior relationship manager at the British Business Bank, said: “There is a great opportunity for Metalico to expand. The firm has solid foundations, and this finance from the MEIF will see them begin to look at newer, more innovative ways of marketing – opening-up markets and seeing the business enter a new period of growth. I look forward to seeing the progress made over the next few years.”
The MEIF project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the ERDF as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
