£1m fund leads new industrial revolution

Business leaders and the University of Wolverhampton were celebrating today as the groundbreaking fund was revealed to have provided enough support for dozens of firms to create 100 jobs and protect a further 56.

Grants worth up to £50,000 each have been offered along with expert advice and support to businesses that want to expand, buy new equipment and take on new trade – providing new jobs in the process.

The cash, from the Government's Regional Growth Fund, is being administered by the University of Wolverhampton's Business Solutions Centre with business leaders playing a key role in deciding which applications to support.

Dozens of small and medium-sized businesses have so far been successful. And there is hundreds of thousands of pounds left to allocate in the new year. Businesses such as Adams Enclosures in Brownhills have been given grants to purchase new equipment or improve their operations, meaning they are able to bid for new work.

Its funding enables it to take on six staff, including three at a senior level.

It has bought new equipment including low voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies.

Simon Banks, technical sales manager of the company, said: "The testing was completed in October and has been well received by customers old and new.

"The test panels have generated a lot of interest with our customers and we are receiving a lot of enquiries from new customers who are keen to offer their customers compliant solutions.

"The increase in enquiries and order input has meant that the business is recruiting new employees in sales, engineering and production to cope with the increased turnover." The company started out in 2006 with just Wayne and Andria Adams and one other colleague. Now there are almost 40 staff.

Adams supplies the likes of Siemens and has also provided enclosures used on the London Underground.

Its products are also in Canary Wharf, the heart of London's financial centre.

The upgrade frees up staff to do other tasks, meaning more work can be taken on.

It is a similar story in many of the other Green Shoots recipients.

Laura Loveys, managing director of Dudley based Eurocraft Enclosures, is one of the business people on the fund's steering group, helping to choose successful applicants.

She said: "It's a really big milestone. It has been an incredibly difficult few years in business, not just in the Black Country but everywhere. Things are changing and this fund gives people the opportunity to take advantage of that and take on new employees.

"That has a knock on benefit for the wider economy as it means the companies in the supply chains of the successful applicants also take on additional work."

Marc Fleetham, director of the Business Solutions Centre, said: "One of the crucial aspects of this process has been the advice and support offered, as well as the opportunity for funding.

"We've helped to demystify the process of obtaining a grant. Many of the businesses we have helped had never had or sought government funding before."

Green Shoots is one of two major job boosting drives backed by the Express & Star.

The newspaper is also supporting Ladder for the Black Country, set up by the Vine Trust to create apprenticeships for young people.

The project, whose patron is the Duke of York, created 100 posts in just a week as businesses flocked to sign up.