North Staffordshire SMEs flourishing with help from Michelin Development
SMALL businesses in North Staffordshire are growing in confidence and developing ambitious expansion plans, according to a leading enterprise support scheme.
Michelin Development provided low-cost funding and free mentoring to 11 North Staffordshire firms in 2013 – paving the way for about 80 new jobs.
Managers of the Stoke-on-Trent-based scheme say confidence is on the rise, and they are urging small companies with the potential for high growth in the area to take advantage of its Bank of England base rate loans and expertise in 2014.
More than half the successful 2013 applicants were manufacturers, and six of the 11 wanted backing to expand their premises.
Mike Cole, director of Michelin Development, said: “We’re getting a real sense that confidence is flooding back into small businesses in North Staffordshire, and that has to be great news for the area’s economy as a whole.
“Attracting multi-nationals to set up here is important, but SMEs are the life-blood of job and wealth creation. That’s why we’re so pleased to have seen such optimism in 2013.
“The vast majority of the companies we helped this year are looking to take on new people and expand their operations, and that will create about 80 jobs.”
He said he could see no reason why this buoyancy should not continue into next year.
Michelin Development, based at the tyre manufacturer’s UK head office on Campbell Road in Stoke, is a not-for-profit initiative offering unsecured loans up to £50,000 at Bank of England base rate as well as access to a wide range of expertise and advice.
Cole added: “There are many, many fantastic small businesses in Stoke-on-Trent, but affordable mainstream funding is still hard to come by for a lot of them. We can’t allow that to stifle growth and employment.”
Since it began in 2004, the scheme has worked with 70 businesses in North Staffordshire, providing £1.7m in loans and helping create 700 jobs. Successful 2013 applicants included SPB Moulds in Longton and Party Shop Supplies in Fenton.
Sara Williams, chief executive of the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, added: “Through its Quarterly Economic Survey and conversations with business, the Staffordshire chambers have noted a significant growth in confidence in North Staffordshire.
“An increasing awareness of companies choosing to invest here – including, for example, Michelin and Steelite International – has highlighted to other businesses that there is confidence in the area as a place to do business and a location from which to grow.
“Business support schemes such as Michelin Development are playing a helpful role in this and we would urge any local businesses looking at expanding in 2014 to consider all the funding options open to them.”
