New £10m funds boost for Mids manufacturers

Advisory Service which closed down just over a year ago.

It will provide access to specialist assistance in order to help firms grow and improve via a network of 19 managers. Grants up of £3,500 are available and support can be used for leadership and management training, R&D, lean manufacturing and productivity.

Lorraine Holmes, chief executive of Economic Growth Solutions, said: “Since MAS was abruptly axed at the end of 2015, manufacturers have not had access to a support programme that is tailored to their exact requirements and delivered by people who know the sector.

“This has all changed with the official launch of MGP and we now have funding in place to help firms tackle operational issues, make the most of new opportunities and boost the skills of their workforce.

“The programme has to be delivered by March 2019 so we want companies to come forward and take advantage of this assistance.”

The network of managers will be the first point of call and will work with firms on completing a strategic business review and developing an action plan. This will highlight the areas of improvement required and, from there, a number of industry specialists will be explored before the client chooses the expert they want to work with to complete the project. The programme, which offers grants of 35 per cent of the total project cost, is also working closely with a number of LEPs and their respective Growth Hubs to ensure manufacturers are signposted to other initiatives that may be able to help.