Grant allows Oswestry manufacturer to expand and create jobs

Grant allows Oswestry manufacturer to expand and create jobs

Published: September 26th, 2017

An
Oswestry-based manufacturer will realise its growth ambitions having
been awarded a grant by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership
(LEP). The grant, worth over £97,000, is part of the Marches
Building Investment Grant (MBIG) which was launched earlier this
year. It is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund
and has allowed essential expansion work to be carried out at the
firm’s site on the Mile Oak Industrial Estate.

Formed
in 1966 and acquired by current directors Kevin Taylor and Colin
Derbyshire in 2013, CV Rollers (TPP) Limited specialises in the
manufacture of bearing related products. Since their purchase of the
business, turnover has increased from £800,000 to over £2.1m and
they are now the market leader in their field.

It
was, however, the formation of a relationship with Hansen
International, a global leader in commercial and industrial vehicle
components, which really expedited the need for further growth.

Colin
Derbyshire explains:
“Our
relationship with Hansen opened the US market to us and we’ve
consequently secured orders with OEMs and two of the main fire truck
manufacturers over there. Added to this, our business in the UK
continues to expand on an almost daily basis.

When
we found out, from our Manager at Lloyds Bank, about the MBIG finance
we realised that it could offer us the opportunity to fast-track our
much-needed expansion to capitalise on the new business opportunities
that we’re continually securing.”

The
Marches Building Investment Grant totals £2.5m and is open to
businesses across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin
who need to fund extensions, renovations or reconfigurations of
commercial premises.

Speaking
of the application process, Colin continues:
“Applying
for the grant was a relatively straightforward process and we felt
assured that Programme Manager Caroline Cattle was on-hand to support
us with any queries that we had in that respect.

The
impact that it will have to our business cannot be underestimated.
Simply, without it we wouldn’t have been able to contemplate such a
rapid expansion and it’s likely that we’d have been looking at
gradual growth over two to three years, as opposed to the six months
that we’ll have achieved this in.”

Having
received the grant, CV Rollers will be able to create five new
full-time jobs by the end of the year in addition to its existing 18
roles. The building work has not only facilitated an extension at
the side of the factory, but has also created a mezzanine floor from
which further CAD design work and administration can be carried out.

Caroline
Cattle, MBIG Programme Manager, comments:
“CV
Rollers has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and as this
continues, the need for additional space has become a priority. The
extension and other renovations that the grant has facilitated will
allow for not only new jobs in the immediate short term, but also
future growth which could create additional jobs.”

LEP
Director Gill Hamer adds:
The
difference made by schemes such as this shouldn’t be
underestimated. Our previous Redundant Buildings Grant Scheme saw a
rich and diverse range of buildings across the Marches transformed
and brought back in to useful economic use.

As
one of the first project completions, the extension at CV Rollers
demonstrates perfectly how the grant can facilitate both the
conditions for immediate and longer term, growth and job creation.”

Open
to businesses trading with other businesses (B2B), the scheme awards
grants of up to
45%
of the total project costs (to a maximum £100,000) and are intended
to cover conversion and alteration costs. They cannot be used
towards purchasing property, equipment, or ‘excessive’
landscaping costs. Nor can they be made retrospectively.

Applicants
to the Marches Building Investment Grant can be either
owner-occupiers or tenants although for the latter, they must have a
fixed term lease with at least 6 years unexpired.

Residential
property is exempt from the scheme as are buildings used for
agricultural, horticultural, retail or hospitality purposes.

The
scheme is expected to attract up to £3m in private sector investment
in the region and lead to the creation of 130 jobs. It has been part
funded by the England European Regional Development Fund as part of
the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme,
2014-2020.

Herefordshire
Council is the accountable body for the scheme. Full details are
available from Caroline Cattle and Alison Rogers on
[email protected]
or by calling the Marches Growth Hub team on 0345 6000 727.

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