Grant success to fuel prototype firm’s expansion plans

Family business Birmingham Prototypes is set to create jobs and boost production for its aviation and automotive clients including Jaguar Land Rover after securing a £60,000 grant.

Birmingham Prototypes, based at Madeley Road Industrial Estate in Redditch, has been trading since 2004 and specialises in sheet metal work with expertise in supplying prototypes pressings, bracketry, classic car panels and low volume work to the aviation, automotive and white goods sectors.

Central Finance, a Midlands based finance broker, sourced the £60,000 grant through The Birmingham Growth Programme, managed by Birmingham City Council and part funded by the European Development Programme.

The funding boost will enable the business to create six jobs.

Michael Adams, managing director, Birmingham Prototypes, says: “The scale of work we do here at Birmingham Prototypes varies greatly from one off bespoke parts to large projects containing multiple components through to scheduled low-volume production parts. To continually develop and diversify our products, ensure our clients are happy with the range of service and products we develop and the time and quality to deliver, we needed to invest in our machinery and have the very best machinery on the market.

“Accessing grant funding was not something I considered until HSBC suggested meeting Alison at Central Finance. It was clear after meeting Alison, who has years of experience working with manufacturers to access grant funding that Central Finance would help us achieve our goals and invest in our future.”

Alison Bradley, managing director, Central Finance, added: “Working with Michael at Birmingham Prototypes to achieve a substantial grant package to purchase state of the art, world-class machinery has been extremely rewarding.

“Even in times of economic uncertainty, there are funding options available for businesses, however, it is a complex market and accessing grant funds does require significant experience to be successful.  This successful grant funding application is a testament to our knowledge of the sector, and our understanding of the application criteria.”