Green Shoots Plus: £1m handout helps create 123 jobs

Nineteen companies have benefited from the Green Shoots Plus scheme run in conjunction with the University of Wolverhampton.

A further £1.2m is in the process of being agreed and £2m is still up for grabs.

So far 42 jobs have been protected, supporting £3.34m of private sector investment. MPs today heralded the scheme and urged more small to medium-sized companies to submit bids.

Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds said: "I would encourage all small and medium-sized businesses to apply for this pot of money so they can invest in their industries and create new jobs.

"The fund has already been successful in creating more than one hundred jobs and is a shot in the arm for the local economy."

And South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson said: "What is so great about this scheme is that it is a partnership between Britain's biggest-selling regional newspaper the Express & Star and an academical institution delivering on the ground and making a difference for lots of people.

"This is a radical approach to handing out government grants and it must be commended because it working so well and improving the local economy."

Companies to benefit include a firm in Netherton who were awarded a grant of £150,000, which will create 13 new jobs and protect a further three by purchasing new machinery and equipment the amount of work it can handle.

Engineering firm WRR Pedley & Co Ltd in Willenhall was awarded a grant of £63,900. The company has developed an innovative component that reduces raw material waste by an impressive 40 per cent, which was developed 'in house' by managing director Charles Carver and his team . It has been commended by Mercedes.They will use the grant to purchase equipment and machinery to increase manufacturing. The new capability will allow them to produce a further 12,000 units of the new component per week. Five new jobs will be created and a further three people will follow in future years.

Howells Patent Glazing in Cradley Heath was awarded £16,817 to purchase a new press and saw in order to avoid outsourcing work. This will save costs.

They are also looking at investing in new dyes to produce more thermally efficient products. These investments will enable Howells to increase production and create three new jobs and protect one.

And Zolid Manufacturing in Lye, which makes solid worktops, has been given £21,178 towards the costs of overhauling new premises to boost production.

It will create five jobs. Express & Star editor Keith Harrison said: "It is great to see Green Shoots Plus making a real difference for our businesses here in the Black Country and Staffordshire and beyond.

"Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the economy and many of them are in need of a helping hand to reach their full potential, create new jobs, and make a more prosperous society."

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Oakes said: "We are delighted to act as the conduit to allocate this government funding into the region for small companies to become competitive and grow and create jobs and benefit the people of the Black Country, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire."

Applicants can seek a grant worth between £10,000 and £150,000 to cover up to 30 per cent of the costs of their plans for job creation and expansion.

The project, administered by the University of Wolverhampton and overseen by a panel of expert business leaders, uses money from the Government's Regional Growth Fund. Green Shoots Plus aims to create and safeguard more than 370 jobs at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the Black Country, Stafford, South Staffordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Herefordshire.

The fund is aimed at businesses working in advanced manufacturing, building technologies, transport technologies, including aerospace, environmental technologies or business to business services, such as accountancy, design and print, electrical, advertising or marketing.

Applicants need to have been turned down by their banks for the required funding and not to have had more than £175,000 in public funding in the past three years.

Green Shoots Plus is a bigger and wider-ranging successor to the pioneering Green Shoots Fund, which has distributed more than £1m in grants to 35 businesses.

Apply at www.wolverhamptonbsc.com/greenshoots, or on 01902 321272.