Business support group celebrating £4m boost
The County Durham Growth Fund has been awarded an additional £4m to continue supporting local businesses.
The extra cash will enable able the fund to support an additional 22 companies and help boost job creation and the local economy.
The County Durham Growth Fund was established in April last year with an initial £4.9m tp providing grants to small and medium enterprises in County Durham to accelerate their growth.
The fund is overseen by Business Durham, the economic development arm of Durham County Council and delivered in partnership with UMi, which advises on initial eligibility checks and funding applications.
The extra cash has been secured from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme.
Each of the companies have secured grants to enable them to purchase new equipment, increase capacity, improve efficiency, expand into new markets and create over 310 new jobs between them over the next two years.
The firms include Alexander Technologies, in Peterlee, which has has secured a grant to help fund their expansion and refurbishment of a new facility and buy equipment to enable the company expand into the medical market.
Seaham based Great Annual Savings will use its capital grant to move into new premises on Spectrum Business Park.
Bignall Group, in Shildon, secured grant funding to help modernise and update its current machine shop and help it expand into new markets.
Sarah Slaven, Business Durham’s interim managing director, said: “It is fantastic to celebrate the first anniversary of the County Durham Growth Fund by announcing £4m in additional funding.
“We will now be able to support more businesses from across the county to grow and thrive.
“Over the next three years, it is going to be particularly important to support firms and create jobs.
For more information, call UMi on 07443 231 757 or visit www.countydurhamgrowthfund.co.uk.