Loan arrangers are helping businesses
Jobs created across region with scheme
Heart Research UK and the Subway brand are bringing their ever popular fun run series back to Motherwell on Sunday, June 3.
The Subway Helping Hearts Family 5K fun run will take place at noon in Strathclyde Country Park, one of the most popular family attractions in the central belt of Scotland, following last year’s run in Bellahouston Park which saw over 1000 amateur runners take part.
The 5K series takes a twist on the traditional 5K run by including the ‘Field of Fresh’ challenge – a giant, inflatable obstacle course inspired by the Subway stores’ menu which participants can enter at the 4.5K mark.
Families can also relax in the Family Village, open from 10.30am, which features free entertainment, including free face-painting, music, games and more inflatable fun for children.
Children aged under 12 can participate for free with everyone else paying just £8 online if they register in advance or £10 on the day.
This includes a free t-shirt, a free lunch from Subway stores, a finisher’s medal and access to the Family Village.
All sponsorship money raised by runners goes towards the Heart Research UK and Subway Healthy Heart Grant scheme. This initiative provides up to £10,000 each to local projects across the UK, including in Scotland, that actively promotes helping heart health in the community.
To apply for your place, visit www.5ksubway.com
Three hundred and twenty three new jobs have been created in North Lanarkshire through the help of loans provided by the council.
Business loans provided by North Lanarkshire Council have also safegurded 472 jobs and brought in a total of £7.9 million from public and private sectors.
Through the West of Scotland Loan Fund, the local authority provided 64 loans totalling £2.2million to new and existing local companies between 2009 and 2017.
Among the firms to benefit is Motherwell- based Strathkelvin Instruments Ltd.
The Newhouse company, which has eight employees and designs and manufactures respirometry equipment, received two business loans to provide working capital for research and product development and help it to achieve growth.
“In recent years, we have been focused on the development of new technology to help the waste water industry to achieve asset resilience,” explained Strathkelvin Instruments director, Michael Dooley, whose firm serves the biomedical research, waste water treatment and product testing market.
“The route to commercialisation has taken time and it’s been challenging, particularly as we operate in a relatively conservative marketplace.
“To date, we have invested a total of £2million in research and development. Business Loan Funding has contributed to that, enabling us to develop a credible, marketable product with global application. The potential for growth – both for our company and our local supply chain – is sizeable and positive.”
From 2018, North Lanarkshire Council is continuing to provide loan funding to local businesses through Business Loans Scotland (BLS), which is a pan-Scotland loan fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
Loans of up to 50%, to a maximum of £100,000 are available to limited companies, social enterprises and partnerships with four or more partners.
The funding can be used for working capital, purchase of plant and equipment or business property.
Any businesses interested in Business Loans Scotland should contact North Lanarkshire Council Enterprise Development Team on 01236 638945, by email at businesssupport@northlan.gov.uk or online at www.northlanarkshire. gov.uk/business or www.bls.scot.