More than 500 jobs in pipeline as LEP secures additional £8m growth fund

An £8m funding pot has been made available to SMEs in the Humber to help them make capital investments  – a move which could lead to the creation of more than 500 jobs.

The funding was secured by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as part of its recent Growth Deal with Government.

The funding will be used to extend the LEP’s Growing the Humber grant programme which has already supported more than 300 businesses with £25m in grants and levered in almost £120m private investment.

Growing the Humber is designed to help businesses make capital investments which will lead to job creation. The programme has so far helped to create more than 1800 jobs with 540 due to be created in the near future.

The additional funding is set to lead to the creation of another 525 jobs in the Humber.

In Growing the Humber Round 3, small and medium businesses that have been trading for at least a year and are ready to grow can apply for a grant to support capital purchases. Projects could include buying equipment and machinery or extending and refurbishing premises to enable the business to be more productive and grow their customer base.

Businesses that have previously been successful in applying for a Growing the Humber grant include:

•    UK Trailer Parts, a Grimsby-based business that manufactures and supplies load restraint equipment to the haulage sector received a grant to support a move to larger premises and extend the range of services offered to the logistics sector.
•    Pipers Crisps, a producer of premium potato crisps in North Lincolnshire, was awarded a grant to invest in plant and equipment that will increase factory output to meet increased product demand.
•    Agenda Resource Management, a family run business in the East Riding undertaking security screening, resource management and marketing successfully applied for funding to expand and refurbish the head office in order to grow the business.
•    Sports Identity is a Hull-based signage manufacture company servicing the sporting sector. They were awarded a grant to support investment in more efficient and environmentally friendly printing technology, enabling them to provide a greater range of services and appeal to new markets.

Grant applications are assessed by an Investment Panel of private sector business leaders.

David Kilburn of MKM Building Supplies is chair of the panel.

He said: “Growing the Humber has already been successful in helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to make key investments that enable them to grow and employ more people. We are pleased that additional money from the Local Growth Fund allows us to continue providing support to businesses that promote economic growth for the Humber.”

Rob Daysley, managing director at Sport Identity, added: “The introduction of the new machinery has increased our workflow, reducing the ‘bottleneck’ in production and giving us the ability to produce more internally.

“The reduction in outsourcing gives us a further competitive edge in finding new customers and markets and also means that as the business is able to grow, more money will be retained within the local economy.”