Going For Growth 05 February 2014

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Going for Growthwww.bristolpost.co.uk/business

052014FEB

TIME TO GROWLast year we asked for businesses to apply forgrants from a £25 million pot to help themcreate jobs and grow. Here’s what happened...

GOING FOR GROWTH

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2 We d n e s d a y, February 5, 2014 3We d n e s d a y, February 5, 2014 w w w. bristolpost.co.ukw w w. bristolpost.co.uk

Fo o d

AFTER four years of hardwork, Ed Brown and businesspartner Griff Holland saystheir business is close to a tip-ping point that will see it open

stores and create jobs.The pair started Friska Foods

after meeting at a networking eventin Bristol.

Despite both studying economics atBath University, they didn’t meetuntil years later, by which time theyhad discovered the drive to become

entre preneurs.Ed had considered training in law

then taken a job at a property con-sultancy before deciding he wanted todo something for himself instead.

While Griff was on a year placementat the Treasury when he was inspiredafter listening to business owners in-cluding Richard Reed from InnocentD r i n k s.

Friska employs 35 people across itsfour sites in Victoria Street, the Bris-tol and Bath Science Park in Emer-sons Green, Bath Road Studios and theClifton Triangle.

It has been awarded up to £83,000from the Regional Growth Fund underthe Going for Growth campaign whichit will use to secure nine jobs and

create another 38 by openingthree new stores within the West ofEngland area.

The money will provide 20 per centof the capital costs, and should helpthe firm secure the rest of the invest-ment needed.

And Ed, 28, and Griff, 30, are keep-ing their eyes open for suitable loc-at i o n s.

“The Harbourside area would begood for us,” said Ed. “We describe ourbrand as fresh fast food for young pro-fessionals. Our market is mainly 24-44year olds often in professions such aslaw, accounting, marketing, so weneed to be in places where there arehigh concentrations of those people.”

The business makes about 75 per

Fresh food duo ready for growthand have national ambitions

� G r i ffHolland,left, and EdB ro w noutside theFriska inVi c t o r i a

Firm brings itsproduction backhome with plansto create jobs

ACOMPANY which makesshoe hangers used byretailers has opened aHengrove base after decid-ing to switch some of its

manufacturing back to the UK.Phineas Products moved to

Hengrove in September and plans toraise the number of hangers it makesin Bristol from five million a year to15-20 million.

The company employs 12 people inthe city but hopes to take on more inthe coming year, thanks to a £100,000grant from the Going for Growthfund.

Managing director Dan Wrightsaid: “I wanted to be in Bristolbecause it’s a great city.

“Hengrove is a popular centre formanufacturers, there is good avail-ability of labour and the costs areless than north Bristol.”

The firm was founded in Leicester-shire in 1984 by Dan’s dad ChrisWright and business partner SidHar ris.

At that time the Midlands was stillthe heart of the shoe-making in-dustry but later years saw mostcompanies move their factories toChina.

Phineas Products makes plastichangers and sells them to shoemakers, so that when a retailerorders 50,000 shoes, they come on50,000 hangers ready to go on thes h e l ve s.

Its products can be seen on theshelves of most high street shoeretailers, including Asda andMothercare. When Dan took over thebusiness, he moved manufacturingto Hong Kong and China to follow hisc u s t o m e r s.

But now many manufacturers arereturning to Europe so the formerUWE student decided it was a greattime to bring some of the productionwork back home.

Even with the increase in pro-duction, the firm has capacity to takeon manufacturing orders from otherlocal businesses.

“We have found we are the onlycompany offering injection mould-ing in the area so we are in a goodposition,” said Dan.

“For local companies we couldoffer next morning delivery ono rd e r s. ”

ANIMATION firm Wonky Filmsis taking the big step of hiringpermanent staff after seven years inbu s i n e s s.

The Bedminster company regu-larly uses freelance specialists butwill be creating two full-time jobsthanks to support from the Going forGrowth fund.

The firm, run by creative directorMichael Cash and head of produc-tion Vicky Brophy, creates anim-ations for broadcast, advertisingand online, with customers rangingfrom the BBC to Unicef, the BritishHeart Foundation and advertisinga g encies.

Vicky, 38, has a PhD in biochem-istry and is in charge of research, anarea the company believes is vitalfor growth, and the reason it appliedfor the grant.

“The grant will help us learn howto create animations that aremore personal to the people watch-ing,” she said.

Vicky explained the firm wantsto find more ways to monetise itscontent.

“Audiences are reluctant to payfor content so we want to find waysto make it more personal and see ifthe are then willing to pay,” shesaid.

“It could be a premium modelwhere they pay for the personal-

New jobs at animation companySoftware to helpb osses ’ decisionsA COMPANY which helps manage-ment make tough decisions has se-cured £180,000 to help develop a newdiagnostic tool.

Footdown, based on Railway Place,will use the cash from the West ofEngland Local Enterprise Partner-ship to fund a £340,000 project inpartnership with the University ofB at h ’s school of management.

The three-year scheme will hope todevelop a piece of software that canbe used by companies to run a healthcheck looking at where it sits in thecurrent market place, how it is per-forming and where it should be head-ing. The software will also be used tocanvas a company’s workforce togauge the opinion of workers.

Chief executive Mike Roe saidthe firm was used to working withbusiness leaders and allowing themto take stock.

“Being a CEO is a difficult gig. Itcan be quite lonely. By bringingpeople together it can satisfy that

Management

A PRECISION engineering firm iscreating a centre of excellence in thespecialist technique of thread rolling,thanks to £76,400 from the Going forGrowth fund.

Redcliffe Precision Ltd chairmanMike Love said: “We learnt about theopportunity for grant support fromreading an article in the Bristol Post.Well done to the Po s t .”

The Ashton Vale firm, which em-ploys 39 people, is a specialist inthread rolling, a technique for mak-ing threads on fasteners and shafts,for the aerospace industry.

Threads formed this way are moreaccurate and less prone to fatiguethan cut threads, so are used inhigh-stress aerospace applications.

Demand is growing as the orderbooks of Airbus, GKN, Boeing, Au-gusta Westland and Bombardierbegin to swell.

The firm could also take advantageof plans to build new nuclear reactorsin the UK.

The money will allow the firm tolevel £300,000 of private investmentinto the centre of excellence, creatingthree new skilled jobs and safeguard-

ing another three.Mr Lowe said: “Having recently

invested in additional milling ma-chine capacity, Redcliffe was not in aposition to make this additionalinvestment without support fromthe fund.

“Support from the fund hasaccelerated our investment plans andallowed Redcliffe to establish a Westof England centre of excellence andleadership position in this key, nichem a rke t .

“Without it, the opportunity toestablish and grow a solid capabilityin thread rolling could have been lostto competitors from outside there gion.”

The privately owned company wasfounded in 1963 by Geoff Sage andnow has a turnover of around£3 million.

Geoff ’s son Kevin is managing dir-ector, working alongside operationsdirector Rob Laird.

With growing demand for its ser-vices, the firm moved to newpremises in 2013 and invested in ad-ditional machinery and advancedmanufacturing equipment.

Aerospace industry

M a n u fa c t u r i n g

Media

Gavin ThompsonAssistant Editor (Business)[email protected]

Head of productionVicky Brophy

“After the recession,there are a lot moresmall creativecompanies. This isabout giving us acompetitive edge.

Managing directorDan Wright

“ I wanted to be inBristol because it’s agreat city. Hengrove is apopular centre formanufacturers, thereis good availability oflabour and the costsare less than northBristol.

� Director of marketing CeriBennett, Mike Roe, and projectmanager Dr Mike Carter

cent of turnover from the retail side,both eat-in and takeaway food and cof-fee. And the rest comes from cateringoffice functions and events.

But while the Going for Growthgrant will help it expand within theWest of England, Friska’s ambitionsd o n’t stop there.

“Our goal is to have 50 stores na-tionwide within 10 years of when westar ted,” said Ed.

“We want to have a hub around Bris-tol, then Birmingham, Manchesterand eventually London.

“We been working hard, learninghow to run the business and how tomanage multiple sites.

“We want to get big enough that ourgrowth is self financing.”

� Redcliffe Precisionchairman Mike Loveand a thread rollingmachine, left

Centre of excellence for engineering technique


requirement for sharing.”Mr Roe said the purpose of the

software was to help businessesacross the country.

“You have to look at the reasonswhy the LEP was created and itspurpose. This project is bigger thanus, than Bath, it is about making UKplc better.”

Footdown, which already employs11 members of staff, will create twofull-time jobs and one part-time jobwith the funding.

isation, or they pay if they want tosend a personalised animation to afriend.”

Alternatively, she said, personal-ised animation could be a way ofgiving them a competitive edge withclients, who would use the tech-niques to enhance their cam-p a i g n s.

The details haven’t been workedout yet.

“T hat’s what the research grant isfo r, ” said Vicky.

But examples could be stories inwhich the viewer can add their ownfaces, or adverts that pick the view-er’s most-played iTunes song as thebackground music.

All the ideas will involve Wonky’sspeciality, character animation andh u m o u r.

Vicky said: “After the recession,there are a lot more small creativec o m p a n i e s.

“This is about giving us a com-petitive edge.”

� The Phineas team: Richard Collings, Liam Burns, Diana Mills, Laurence Hooper, Dawn Ponting, Jan Morgan,Gareth Adams, Dan Wright, Janie Bryan, John Hennessy, Amelia Llewellin and Michael Britnell

Let’s grow, we said– and you did

IN May last year, we at the BristolPost launched the Going forGrowth campaign under theheadline “Let’s Grow”. We saidthat only growth would help our

recession-hit region to recover fromthe worst downturn in a generation.Only by growing would local busi-nesses be able to make more money,employ more people and get the eco-nomy moving again.

But growth needs investment – andmany local firms had been unable toget the cash they needed to developnew ideas and take on new staff.

In order to kick-start that growthand prise that private investmentout, the West of England Local En-terprise Partnership secured a pot of£25 million from the Government’sRegional Growth Fund to help busi-nesses to grow.

We launched the campaign to getthe message out there to local busi-nesses: if you want to grow, to expandyour premises, buy new equipment,research new ideas, and doing so willeither create jobs or safeguard ex-isting ones, then we can help.

The target was to create or safe-guard 1,300 jobs. That has beensmashed. Money allocated so far willcreate 1,004 jobs and safeguard morethan 500. Applications still being con-sidered could create another 255.

Plus there’s still a few million leftin the pot with new applicationsbeing sought next month.

The process has been a little slowerthan we had all hoped. The LEP madethe applications simple so that theywere accessible, but European ruleson state aid are stringent, so it hastaken time for the team of half adozen or so to get the applicationswhere they need to be to meet thecriteria.

But we’re almost there. The eco-nomy is growing again. As Bristolbusinesses start spending thesegrants and creating jobs – which theymust by April 2015 – we should seethat growth accelerate.

Ed i to r i a l

Michael [email protected]

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Fo o d

AFTER four years of hardwork, Ed Brown and businesspartner Griff Holland saystheir business is close to a tip-ping point that will see it open

stores and create jobs.The pair started Friska Foods

after meeting at a networking eventin Bristol.

Despite both studying economics atBath University, they didn’t meetuntil years later, by which time theyhad discovered the drive to become

entre preneurs.Ed had considered training in law

then taken a job at a property con-sultancy before deciding he wanted todo something for himself instead.

While Griff was on a year placementat the Treasury when he was inspiredafter listening to business owners in-cluding Richard Reed from InnocentD r i n k s.

Friska employs 35 people across itsfour sites in Victoria Street, the Bris-tol and Bath Science Park in Emer-sons Green, Bath Road Studios and theClifton Triangle.

It has been awarded up to £83,000from the Regional Growth Fund underthe Going for Growth campaign whichit will use to secure nine jobs and

create another 38 by openingthree new stores within the West ofEngland area.

The money will provide 20 per centof the capital costs, and should helpthe firm secure the rest of the invest-ment needed.

And Ed, 28, and Griff, 30, are keep-ing their eyes open for suitable loc-at i o n s.

“The Harbourside area would begood for us,” said Ed. “We describe ourbrand as fresh fast food for young pro-fessionals. Our market is mainly 24-44year olds often in professions such aslaw, accounting, marketing, so weneed to be in places where there arehigh concentrations of those people.”

The business makes about 75 per

Fresh food duo ready for growthand have national ambitions

� G r i ffHolland,left, and EdB ro w noutside theFriska inVi c t o r i a

Firm brings itsproduction backhome with plansto create jobs

ACOMPANY which makesshoe hangers used byretailers has opened aHengrove base after decid-ing to switch some of its

manufacturing back to the UK.Phineas Products moved to

Hengrove in September and plans toraise the number of hangers it makesin Bristol from five million a year to15-20 million.

The company employs 12 people inthe city but hopes to take on more inthe coming year, thanks to a £100,000grant from the Going for Growthfund.

Managing director Dan Wrightsaid: “I wanted to be in Bristolbecause it’s a great city.

“Hengrove is a popular centre formanufacturers, there is good avail-ability of labour and the costs areless than north Bristol.”

The firm was founded in Leicester-shire in 1984 by Dan’s dad ChrisWright and business partner SidHar ris.

At that time the Midlands was stillthe heart of the shoe-making in-dustry but later years saw mostcompanies move their factories toChina.

Phineas Products makes plastichangers and sells them to shoemakers, so that when a retailerorders 50,000 shoes, they come on50,000 hangers ready to go on thes h e l ve s.

Its products can be seen on theshelves of most high street shoeretailers, including Asda andMothercare. When Dan took over thebusiness, he moved manufacturingto Hong Kong and China to follow hisc u s t o m e r s.

But now many manufacturers arereturning to Europe so the formerUWE student decided it was a greattime to bring some of the productionwork back home.

Even with the increase in pro-duction, the firm has capacity to takeon manufacturing orders from otherlocal businesses.

“We have found we are the onlycompany offering injection mould-ing in the area so we are in a goodposition,” said Dan.

“For local companies we couldoffer next morning delivery ono rd e r s. ”

ANIMATION firm Wonky Filmsis taking the big step of hiringpermanent staff after seven years inbu s i n e s s.

The Bedminster company regu-larly uses freelance specialists butwill be creating two full-time jobsthanks to support from the Going forGrowth fund.

The firm, run by creative directorMichael Cash and head of produc-tion Vicky Brophy, creates anim-ations for broadcast, advertisingand online, with customers rangingfrom the BBC to Unicef, the BritishHeart Foundation and advertisinga g encies.

Vicky, 38, has a PhD in biochem-istry and is in charge of research, anarea the company believes is vitalfor growth, and the reason it appliedfor the grant.

“The grant will help us learn howto create animations that aremore personal to the people watch-ing,” she said.

Vicky explained the firm wantsto find more ways to monetise itscontent.

“Audiences are reluctant to payfor content so we want to find waysto make it more personal and see ifthe are then willing to pay,” shesaid.

“It could be a premium modelwhere they pay for the personal-

New jobs at animation companySoftware to helpb osses ’ decisionsA COMPANY which helps manage-ment make tough decisions has se-cured £180,000 to help develop a newdiagnostic tool.

Footdown, based on Railway Place,will use the cash from the West ofEngland Local Enterprise Partner-ship to fund a £340,000 project inpartnership with the University ofB at h ’s school of management.

The three-year scheme will hope todevelop a piece of software that canbe used by companies to run a healthcheck looking at where it sits in thecurrent market place, how it is per-forming and where it should be head-ing. The software will also be used tocanvas a company’s workforce togauge the opinion of workers.

Chief executive Mike Roe saidthe firm was used to working withbusiness leaders and allowing themto take stock.

“Being a CEO is a difficult gig. Itcan be quite lonely. By bringingpeople together it can satisfy that

Management

A PRECISION engineering firm iscreating a centre of excellence in thespecialist technique of thread rolling,thanks to £76,400 from the Going forGrowth fund.

Redcliffe Precision Ltd chairmanMike Love said: “We learnt about theopportunity for grant support fromreading an article in the Bristol Post.Well done to the Po s t .”

The Ashton Vale firm, which em-ploys 39 people, is a specialist inthread rolling, a technique for mak-ing threads on fasteners and shafts,for the aerospace industry.

Threads formed this way are moreaccurate and less prone to fatiguethan cut threads, so are used inhigh-stress aerospace applications.

Demand is growing as the orderbooks of Airbus, GKN, Boeing, Au-gusta Westland and Bombardierbegin to swell.

The firm could also take advantageof plans to build new nuclear reactorsin the UK.

The money will allow the firm tolevel £300,000 of private investmentinto the centre of excellence, creatingthree new skilled jobs and safeguard-

ing another three.Mr Lowe said: “Having recently

invested in additional milling ma-chine capacity, Redcliffe was not in aposition to make this additionalinvestment without support fromthe fund.

“Support from the fund hasaccelerated our investment plans andallowed Redcliffe to establish a Westof England centre of excellence andleadership position in this key, nichem a rke t .

“Without it, the opportunity toestablish and grow a solid capabilityin thread rolling could have been lostto competitors from outside there gion.”

The privately owned company wasfounded in 1963 by Geoff Sage andnow has a turnover of around£3 million.

Geoff ’s son Kevin is managing dir-ector, working alongside operationsdirector Rob Laird.

With growing demand for its ser-vices, the firm moved to newpremises in 2013 and invested in ad-ditional machinery and advancedmanufacturing equipment.

Aerospace industry


Media


Head of productionVicky Brophy

“After the recession,there are a lot moresmall creativecompanies. This isabout giving us acompetitive edge.

Managing directorDan Wright

“ I wanted to be inBristol because it’s agreat city. Hengrove is apopular centre formanufacturers, thereis good availability oflabour and the costsare less than northBristol.

� Director of marketing CeriBennett, Mike Roe, and projectmanager Dr Mike Carter

cent of turnover from the retail side,both eat-in and takeaway food and cof-fee. And the rest comes from cateringoffice functions and events.

But while the Going for Growthgrant will help it expand within theWest of England, Friska’s ambitionsd o n’t stop there.

“Our goal is to have 50 stores na-tionwide within 10 years of when westar ted,” said Ed.

“We want to have a hub around Bris-tol, then Birmingham, Manchesterand eventually London.

“We been working hard, learninghow to run the business and how tomanage multiple sites.

“We want to get big enough that ourgrowth is self financing.”

� Redcliffe Precisionchairman Mike Loveand a thread rollingmachine, left

Centre of excellence for engineering technique


requirement for sharing.”Mr Roe said the purpose of the

software was to help businessesacross the country.

“You have to look at the reasonswhy the LEP was created and itspurpose. This project is bigger thanus, than Bath, it is about making UKplc better.”

Footdown, which already employs11 members of staff, will create twofull-time jobs and one part-time jobwith the funding.

isation, or they pay if they want tosend a personalised animation to afriend.”

Alternatively, she said, personal-ised animation could be a way ofgiving them a competitive edge withclients, who would use the tech-niques to enhance their cam-p a i g n s.

The details haven’t been workedout yet.

“T hat’s what the research grant isfo r, ” said Vicky.

But examples could be stories inwhich the viewer can add their ownfaces, or adverts that pick the view-er’s most-played iTunes song as thebackground music.

All the ideas will involve Wonky’sspeciality, character animation andh u m o u r.

Vicky said: “After the recession,there are a lot more small creativec o m p a n i e s.

“This is about giving us a com-petitive edge.”

� The Phineas team: Richard Collings, Liam Burns, Diana Mills, Laurence Hooper, Dawn Ponting, Jan Morgan,Gareth Adams, Dan Wright, Janie Bryan, John Hennessy, Amelia Llewellin and Michael Britnell

Let’s grow, we said– and you did

IN May last year, we at the BristolPost launched the Going forGrowth campaign under theheadline “Let’s Grow”. We saidthat only growth would help our

recession-hit region to recover fromthe worst downturn in a generation.Only by growing would local busi-nesses be able to make more money,employ more people and get the eco-nomy moving again.

But growth needs investment – andmany local firms had been unable toget the cash they needed to developnew ideas and take on new staff.

In order to kick-start that growthand prise that private investmentout, the West of England Local En-terprise Partnership secured a pot of£25 million from the Government’sRegional Growth Fund to help busi-nesses to grow.

We launched the campaign to getthe message out there to local busi-nesses: if you want to grow, to expandyour premises, buy new equipment,research new ideas, and doing so willeither create jobs or safeguard ex-isting ones, then we can help.

The target was to create or safe-guard 1,300 jobs. That has beensmashed. Money allocated so far willcreate 1,004 jobs and safeguard morethan 500. Applications still being con-sidered could create another 255.

Plus there’s still a few million leftin the pot with new applicationsbeing sought next month.

The process has been a little slowerthan we had all hoped. The LEP madethe applications simple so that theywere accessible, but European ruleson state aid are stringent, so it hastaken time for the team of half adozen or so to get the applicationswhere they need to be to meet thecriteria.

But we’re almost there. The eco-nomy is growing again. As Bristolbusinesses start spending thesegrants and creating jobs – which theymust by April 2015 – we should seethat growth accelerate.

Ed i to r i a l

Michael [email protected]

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Online

A NORTH Bristol firm has led theway in online reverse auctions, inwhich businesses get suppliers tobid against one another for con-t r a c t s.

And now Market Dojo has beenawarded £24,950 from the Going forGrowth fund to develop softwaresector specialists can tailor to theirown market and customers.

The Gloucester Road companywas founded three years ago byformer Bristol University gradu-ates Nick Drewer, 31, Nicholas Mar-tin, 38, and Alun Rafique, 39.

Alan and Nick had workedas consultants running reverse

auctions on behalf of companies.“A reverse auction means if you

are a buyer and you have threepossible suppliers, you set up atimed auction so the first one mightbid £100, so the second bids £98,then £95 and so on and the winnerhas the lowest bid,” explainedAlan.

But the group saw a change in themarket and believed it was an op-portunity to set up on their own.

“People wanted to run the auc-

tions themselves rather than bringin consultants,” said Alan. “We sawthat shift in the paradigm and de-veloped Market Dojo software toallow them to do that.”

Since then the Gloucester Roadfirm has secured two grants fromthe Technology Strategy Board,the first to expand Market Dogointo the public sector and thesecond to develop Category Dojo,which helps companies find andplan procurement.

Reverse auction entrepreneursto bid for expansion with award

FIRMS awarded money from the RegionalGrowth Fund under the Going for Growthcampaign:

� Avon Valley Precision Engineering,£233,000 to support expansion into newpremises and the purchase of newmachinery to increase the capability ofmanufacturing to the aerospace anddefence markets. 19 jobs created.� Pulse Roll Label Products Ltd, £42,000 toenable the purchase of new machinery toproduce and supply products in larger bulk,creating opportunities in high volume/lowmargin markets. Two jobs created, fours a f e g u a rd e d� Marine Ecological Surveys Ltd,£10,606.25 for a training project to fill theskills gap in the environmental sector intaxonomy and systematics. Nine jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Market Dojo, £24,950 for experimentalR&D project to develop a novel approach toe-auctions/e-marketplaces. Ten jobscreated, three safeguarded.� Crossway Stables Ltd, £20,000 to set upnew premises and purchase equipment forthe purposes of making food products.Three and a half jobs safeguarded.� Polystrop Ltd, £21,000 to purchaseadditional machinery to be sited in anexpanding factory manufacturing webbingequipment. Eight jobs created, 20 jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Phineas Products, £100,000 to introducemanufacturing operations and investment inthe latest technology tooling. Four jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Trethowans Dairy Ltd, £85,000 to enablethe purchase of capital equipment to fit outa new cheese-making facility. Eight jobscreated, four jobs safeguarded.� Redcliffe Precision, £97,400 to purchasemachinery and expand the company’slaboratory facility for sampling and testing ofmachined items. Three jobs created, threejobs safeguarded.� Eurotaxis Ltd, £22,888 to install andoperate an Authorised Testing Facility forMOT testing of heavy goods vehicles andpassenger-carrying vehicles. Five jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Power Sprays Ltd, £50,000 for expansionof factory to house a machine shop anddemonstration/training area. This willinclude a new Computer Numerical Control(CNC) machining centre and fabricationstations. Four jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £40,000 topurchase lease and refit a new 80-placenursery, 35 jobs created.� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £24,186 topurchase new lease and refit to establish anew nursery at a different site, 18 jobsc re a t e d .� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £17,000 forpurchase of a new lease and refitting coststo establish new 32-place nursery. Threeand a half jobs created.� Lifecycle Technology, £50,850 forresearch and development of an improveddocumentation process for manufacturers,which would lead to delivering paperlesssolutions. Three jobs created, half a jobs a f e g u a rd e d .� Polamco, £80,000 project to extendcurrent premises, providing office andassembly space for the design andmanufacturing of precision interconnectionsolutions for customers. Fifteen jobsc re a t e d .� Polamco, £89,000 to enable the purchaseof Computer Numerical Control (CNC)related machinery in order to grow. Sevenand a half jobs created.� Cam Machine Components Ltd, £73,200to enable the purchase of faster and moremodern machinery in order to fulfil agrowing order book. Two and a half jobscreated, six jobs safeguarded.� Ross Gordon Engineering Ltd, £60,000capital costs of constructing a new buildingwhich will serve as a preparation area forlatest high-tech vehicle spraying booths. Sixjobs created, three jobs safeguarded.� Fowlers of Bristol, £100,000 to enable thepurchase of a new industrial unit, refurbishand kit out to expand the business. Fivejobs created, four jobs safeguarded.� Triptoes Travel Female entrepreneurs,

£9,302 to support new travel enterprisewould enable it to expand product offeringto other areas. Half a job created.� Mr Wolffs Noodles and Nosh, £100,000for relocation project to develop their newpremises into a vegetarian fast foodbar/music venue and generate furtherincome. Ten jobs created, 13 safeguarded.� Beyond the Bean Ltd, £73,640 to set up anew manufacturing operation to augmenttheir existing business supplyingcoffee-related products. Seven jobsc re a t e d .� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £14,625 toenable the purchase of software systems toengineer change control and qualitymanagement. One job created.� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £14,606 fortraining project for workforce to beproficient with new Enterprise ResourcePlanning software system. Four jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £45,000 forrecruitment of disadvantaged engineers towork on electronic control systems. Twojobs created, one job safeguarded.� WONKY, £38,250 to enable experimentalresearch and development intopersonalised animation content for multipledigital platforms. Two jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Eastwood Park Ltd, £475,000 to build andfurnish a new fit-for-purpose training facilityconcerning medical training. Fourteen jobscreated, 43 jobs safeguarded.� Hodson and Phillips Ltd, £12,000 toenable the extension of a car repairs,maintenance and MOT testing workshop toprovide a new working area. One jobc re a t e d .� Impact IT Solutions Ltd, £20,000 forrecruitment of disadvantaged workers toperform telesales and businessdevelopment activities. Two jobs created.� Footdown Ltd, £178,750 for collaborativeresearch and development project todevelop software-based diagnostic productthat can assist companies in determiningtheir lifecycle position. Six jobs created, twoand a half jobs safeguarded.� Rockpool Digital Training, £29,940 tosupport general training, leading to strongtechnical expertise in delivering digitalapplications. One job created, seven jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Carbon One Ltd, £98,850 to enable thepurchase of processing equipment that willenable them to increase the manufacture ofcomposite wheels and aircraft seatstructures. Four jobs created, three jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� JMI Bathrooms Ltd, £81,200 to upgradeand diversify their current showroom,warehouse and office space. Twelve jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Abbey Hotel (Bath) Ltd, £95,000 to enablethe extension of hotel space and upgradethe plumbing and conditioning facilities forfuture growth. Six jobs created, five jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Tivarri Limited, £44,000 to enable theexperimental research and developmentinto a combined online backup and disasterrecovery hardware and software innovation.Two jobs created, two jobs safeguarded.� Avagio ITS Ltd, £13,656 for recruitment ofdisadvantaged workers in technical ITservices (business development consultantroles). Four jobs created.� Friska Ltd, £83,000 to enable the fit-out ofone large concession and three new stores,38-and-a-half jobs created, nine jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� ETM Recycling, £54,400 to enable thepurchase of machinery capable of densityseparation, to divert tonnes of waste fromlandfill. Four jobs created.� Gregor Heating & Renewable, £40,000 toenable the purchase of an adjoiningproperty to allow for further expansion;specifically to set up a satellite office forclients, introduce a state-of-the-artshowroom and training facilities. Nine jobscreated, 12 jobs safeguarded.� Vigilance Engineering Safety ProductsLtd, £38,500 for purchase of a larger oradditional building and equipment for futuregrowth. Three jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� More successful applicants, about whomfewer details have been released, can befound on page eight.

Engineering

ASPECIALIST healthcaretraining centre has beenawarded one of the biggestGoing for Growth grants.Eastwood Park, near

Thornbury in South Gloucester-shire, has secured £475,000 towardsa new training centre on itscurrent site.

The move will safeguard exist-ing jobs and create 11 newones, including from specialistengineers, training administrat-ors, catering assistants and man-a g ers.

This new facility recently re-ceived planning approval and willreplace many of the individualtraining buildings that currentlyhouse replica hospital trainingenvironments on the 200-acre es-tate and bring them together in onebu i l d i n g .

The centre will be the only one ofits kind in the world.

Eastwood Park chief executiveJohn Thatcher said: “We are de-lighted to hear the news that wehave secured funding to help us fitout our planned centre.

“Receiving this amount willenable us to invest in the latestand most advanced technicalequipment as well as adequatelystaff the facility with the calibre ofstaff required of a world leadingf acility.

“Our training services are de-livered throughout the UK, to themajority of NHS Trusts andprivate medical facilities, as wellas attracting delegates fromaround the world, including thoseas far afield as the Falklands,India, Australia, the Nordics andthe Middle East.”

Funding of the building wasalready in place, so the LEP grantwill enable Eastwood Park to equipand staff the centre much soonerthan otherwise would have beenp o s s i bl e.

Previously it had planned aphased approach but now new staffwill be taken on once the centre isbuilt during the next 18-24m o n t h s.

Eastwood Park has been estab-lished for more than 40 years on thesame site and was formerly a ded-icated national NHS training

centre for hospital engineers.Today it is privately owned, but

still delivers training to the health-care industry, especially for hos-pital support services.

This includes a range of tech-nical training such as the safe de-contamination of medicalinstruments used in operations

‘Centre will be the onlyone like it in the world’

Taxi firm creates own MOT centreFund helps hotel moderniseA HOTEL is hoping to rise toa four-star establishmentthanks to a regional grant.

The Abbey Hotel has se-cured £85,000 in fundingfrom the West of EnglandLocal Enterprise Partner-ship (LEP) through its Goingfor Growth initiative.

The money is being usedby hotel owners, Ian andChrista Taylor, to completenecessary upgrades to thehotel’s water system andlift.

Mr Taylor and his wifetook over the hotel in 2012with plans for £1.5 milliontransformation of the Bathcity centre venue.

He said that in the last twoyears the couple had beenable to complete some of theplanned works such asrefurbishing the bar and

reception areas and creatingthe Allium Brasserie.

However, a reluctance bythe banks to lend moneyforced the pair to seekfunding from alternatives o u rc e s.

The hotel is currently hav-ing a new plant and boilerroom fitted, along with newpiping throughout the hotelto help with water pressure.

Once the work is done, allof the hotel bedrooms will berefurbished. A new lift is albeing fitted.

Mr Taylor said: “We hopeto reposition the hotel as areally good four-star hotel,currently it is a three-star.We will also be losing theBest Western name.

“The hotel has neverreally connected really wellwith the city. Since we’ve had

Fund winners

Continued on opposite page

Fund winners

It has since added InnovationDojo to its offer, a tool to help com-panies work with suppliers on newi d e a s.

The Going for Growth grant willbe used to develop the platformfur ther.

“It’s a bit like on eBay you havepeople who set up eBay shops,” saidAlan. “We want people who havespecialist knowledge and contactsin a field, say energy, to be able torun their own procurement busi-ness through Market Dojo.”

Most of the company’s work isoutsourced but as part of the termsof the grant, it has pledged to re-cruit at least one member of staffthis year, most likely in develop-ment or sales and marketing.

Alan added: “Hopefully it will bemore than one person, we’ve cer-tainly got plenty to do.”


it we’ve tried very hard to bepart of the community inBath creating the Alliumand bar area.

“This is a privately ownedhotel. The people who own itare here, this is not a brandhiding behind a companyn a m e. ”

Abbey Hotel, which lastyear enjoyed a 96 per centoccupancy rate, is hiring sixnew members of staff as partof the funding deal with theL E P.

Ian Taylor (right)

“We ’ve tried veryhard to be part ofthe community inBath

Alun Rafique

“People wanted to run the auctions themselvesrather than bring in consultants. We saw that shiftin the paradigm and developed Market Dojosoftware to allow them to do that

� The Market Dojo team, fromleft, Nick Drewe, Alun Rafiqueand Nicholas Martin

Juan Sanzo (above)

“We decided toinvest £150,000 inbuilding our ownlane to do testingin-house

A TAXI company that started withone car and now has a fleet of 180vehicles has been awarded a grantto expand its business in a newd i re c t i o n .

Eurotaxis, a Yate-based taxi andcoach hire firm, has been awarded£22,888 which it has invested inbuilding a commercial vehicles’MOT lane.

The idea came about because ofthe difficulty and cost the companyfound in getting its fleet to theofficial testing centres.

Founder Juan Sanzo said: “Yo ucan never get an appointment – itwas a real problem.

“And when you did it wastaking four hours to take avehicle for testing and then bring itb a ck .

“So we decided to invest £150,000in building our own lane to do iti n - h o u s e. ”

As well as cutting the wasted

time and fuel of getting theirvehicles to and from the test centre,the lane will be open for otherbusinesses to hire.

While Juan says the lane willnever be a big profit maker for thefirm, it should eventually cover theinvestment and running costs,while saving money in otherw ay s.

The lane current has a VOSAtester on site three days a week, butthe hope is to extend that six,which could mean up to 80 com-mercial vehicle tests each week.

Juan started Eurotaxis in 1980and now employs 95 people as wellas using a number of self-employedd r ive r s.

It is a family firm that also em-ploys Juan’s wife Anne as man-aging director, sons Keith andWilliam as directors andson-in-law Toby runs the work-s h o p.

around the country, maintenanceof hospital medical equipment andmedical gas supplies to operatingtheatres, electrical, lift, air con-ditioning, water hygiene, fire andgeneral estates services to supportall those working in the healthcaresector, both in the UK and aroundthe world.


� Right, Eastwood Park chiefexecutive John Thatcher;above, the planned newcentre; below, medicalequipment training at thec e n t re

� MORE APPLICANTS: PAGE 8

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Online

A NORTH Bristol firm has led theway in online reverse auctions, inwhich businesses get suppliers tobid against one another for con-t r a c t s.

And now Market Dojo has beenawarded £24,950 from the Going forGrowth fund to develop softwaresector specialists can tailor to theirown market and customers.

The Gloucester Road companywas founded three years ago byformer Bristol University gradu-ates Nick Drewer, 31, Nicholas Mar-tin, 38, and Alun Rafique, 39.

Alan and Nick had workedas consultants running reverse

auctions on behalf of companies.“A reverse auction means if you

are a buyer and you have threepossible suppliers, you set up atimed auction so the first one mightbid £100, so the second bids £98,then £95 and so on and the winnerhas the lowest bid,” explainedAlan.

But the group saw a change in themarket and believed it was an op-portunity to set up on their own.

“People wanted to run the auc-

tions themselves rather than bringin consultants,” said Alan. “We sawthat shift in the paradigm and de-veloped Market Dojo software toallow them to do that.”

Since then the Gloucester Roadfirm has secured two grants fromthe Technology Strategy Board,the first to expand Market Dogointo the public sector and thesecond to develop Category Dojo,which helps companies find andplan procurement.

Reverse auction entrepreneursto bid for expansion with award

FIRMS awarded money from the RegionalGrowth Fund under the Going for Growthcampaign:

� Avon Valley Precision Engineering,£233,000 to support expansion into newpremises and the purchase of newmachinery to increase the capability ofmanufacturing to the aerospace anddefence markets. 19 jobs created.� Pulse Roll Label Products Ltd, £42,000 toenable the purchase of new machinery toproduce and supply products in larger bulk,creating opportunities in high volume/lowmargin markets. Two jobs created, fours a f e g u a rd e d� Marine Ecological Surveys Ltd,£10,606.25 for a training project to fill theskills gap in the environmental sector intaxonomy and systematics. Nine jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Market Dojo, £24,950 for experimentalR&D project to develop a novel approach toe-auctions/e-marketplaces. Ten jobscreated, three safeguarded.� Crossway Stables Ltd, £20,000 to set upnew premises and purchase equipment forthe purposes of making food products.Three and a half jobs safeguarded.� Polystrop Ltd, £21,000 to purchaseadditional machinery to be sited in anexpanding factory manufacturing webbingequipment. Eight jobs created, 20 jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Phineas Products, £100,000 to introducemanufacturing operations and investment inthe latest technology tooling. Four jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Trethowans Dairy Ltd, £85,000 to enablethe purchase of capital equipment to fit outa new cheese-making facility. Eight jobscreated, four jobs safeguarded.� Redcliffe Precision, £97,400 to purchasemachinery and expand the company’slaboratory facility for sampling and testing ofmachined items. Three jobs created, threejobs safeguarded.� Eurotaxis Ltd, £22,888 to install andoperate an Authorised Testing Facility forMOT testing of heavy goods vehicles andpassenger-carrying vehicles. Five jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Power Sprays Ltd, £50,000 for expansionof factory to house a machine shop anddemonstration/training area. This willinclude a new Computer Numerical Control(CNC) machining centre and fabricationstations. Four jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £40,000 topurchase lease and refit a new 80-placenursery, 35 jobs created.� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £24,186 topurchase new lease and refit to establish anew nursery at a different site, 18 jobsc re a t e d .� Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, £17,000 forpurchase of a new lease and refitting coststo establish new 32-place nursery. Threeand a half jobs created.� Lifecycle Technology, £50,850 forresearch and development of an improveddocumentation process for manufacturers,which would lead to delivering paperlesssolutions. Three jobs created, half a jobs a f e g u a rd e d .� Polamco, £80,000 project to extendcurrent premises, providing office andassembly space for the design andmanufacturing of precision interconnectionsolutions for customers. Fifteen jobsc re a t e d .� Polamco, £89,000 to enable the purchaseof Computer Numerical Control (CNC)related machinery in order to grow. Sevenand a half jobs created.� Cam Machine Components Ltd, £73,200to enable the purchase of faster and moremodern machinery in order to fulfil agrowing order book. Two and a half jobscreated, six jobs safeguarded.� Ross Gordon Engineering Ltd, £60,000capital costs of constructing a new buildingwhich will serve as a preparation area forlatest high-tech vehicle spraying booths. Sixjobs created, three jobs safeguarded.� Fowlers of Bristol, £100,000 to enable thepurchase of a new industrial unit, refurbishand kit out to expand the business. Fivejobs created, four jobs safeguarded.� Triptoes Travel Female entrepreneurs,

£9,302 to support new travel enterprisewould enable it to expand product offeringto other areas. Half a job created.� Mr Wolffs Noodles and Nosh, £100,000for relocation project to develop their newpremises into a vegetarian fast foodbar/music venue and generate furtherincome. Ten jobs created, 13 safeguarded.� Beyond the Bean Ltd, £73,640 to set up anew manufacturing operation to augmenttheir existing business supplyingcoffee-related products. Seven jobsc re a t e d .� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £14,625 toenable the purchase of software systems toengineer change control and qualitymanagement. One job created.� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £14,606 fortraining project for workforce to beproficient with new Enterprise ResourcePlanning software system. Four jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Redcliffe Magtronics Ltd, £45,000 forrecruitment of disadvantaged engineers towork on electronic control systems. Twojobs created, one job safeguarded.� WONKY, £38,250 to enable experimentalresearch and development intopersonalised animation content for multipledigital platforms. Two jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Eastwood Park Ltd, £475,000 to build andfurnish a new fit-for-purpose training facilityconcerning medical training. Fourteen jobscreated, 43 jobs safeguarded.� Hodson and Phillips Ltd, £12,000 toenable the extension of a car repairs,maintenance and MOT testing workshop toprovide a new working area. One jobc re a t e d .� Impact IT Solutions Ltd, £20,000 forrecruitment of disadvantaged workers toperform telesales and businessdevelopment activities. Two jobs created.� Footdown Ltd, £178,750 for collaborativeresearch and development project todevelop software-based diagnostic productthat can assist companies in determiningtheir lifecycle position. Six jobs created, twoand a half jobs safeguarded.� Rockpool Digital Training, £29,940 tosupport general training, leading to strongtechnical expertise in delivering digitalapplications. One job created, seven jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Carbon One Ltd, £98,850 to enable thepurchase of processing equipment that willenable them to increase the manufacture ofcomposite wheels and aircraft seatstructures. Four jobs created, three jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� JMI Bathrooms Ltd, £81,200 to upgradeand diversify their current showroom,warehouse and office space. Twelve jobscreated, two jobs safeguarded.� Abbey Hotel (Bath) Ltd, £95,000 to enablethe extension of hotel space and upgradethe plumbing and conditioning facilities forfuture growth. Six jobs created, five jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� Tivarri Limited, £44,000 to enable theexperimental research and developmentinto a combined online backup and disasterrecovery hardware and software innovation.Two jobs created, two jobs safeguarded.� Avagio ITS Ltd, £13,656 for recruitment ofdisadvantaged workers in technical ITservices (business development consultantroles). Four jobs created.� Friska Ltd, £83,000 to enable the fit-out ofone large concession and three new stores,38-and-a-half jobs created, nine jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� ETM Recycling, £54,400 to enable thepurchase of machinery capable of densityseparation, to divert tonnes of waste fromlandfill. Four jobs created.� Gregor Heating & Renewable, £40,000 toenable the purchase of an adjoiningproperty to allow for further expansion;specifically to set up a satellite office forclients, introduce a state-of-the-artshowroom and training facilities. Nine jobscreated, 12 jobs safeguarded.� Vigilance Engineering Safety ProductsLtd, £38,500 for purchase of a larger oradditional building and equipment for futuregrowth. Three jobs created, two jobss a f e g u a rd e d .� More successful applicants, about whomfewer details have been released, can befound on page eight.

Engineering

ASPECIALIST healthcaretraining centre has beenawarded one of the biggestGoing for Growth grants.Eastwood Park, near

Thornbury in South Gloucester-shire, has secured £475,000 towardsa new training centre on itscurrent site.

The move will safeguard exist-ing jobs and create 11 newones, including from specialistengineers, training administrat-ors, catering assistants and man-a g ers.

This new facility recently re-ceived planning approval and willreplace many of the individualtraining buildings that currentlyhouse replica hospital trainingenvironments on the 200-acre es-tate and bring them together in onebu i l d i n g .

The centre will be the only one ofits kind in the world.

Eastwood Park chief executiveJohn Thatcher said: “We are de-lighted to hear the news that wehave secured funding to help us fitout our planned centre.

“Receiving this amount willenable us to invest in the latestand most advanced technicalequipment as well as adequatelystaff the facility with the calibre ofstaff required of a world leadingf acility.

“Our training services are de-livered throughout the UK, to themajority of NHS Trusts andprivate medical facilities, as wellas attracting delegates fromaround the world, including thoseas far afield as the Falklands,India, Australia, the Nordics andthe Middle East.”

Funding of the building wasalready in place, so the LEP grantwill enable Eastwood Park to equipand staff the centre much soonerthan otherwise would have beenp o s s i bl e.

Previously it had planned aphased approach but now new staffwill be taken on once the centre isbuilt during the next 18-24m o n t h s.

Eastwood Park has been estab-lished for more than 40 years on thesame site and was formerly a ded-icated national NHS training

centre for hospital engineers.Today it is privately owned, but

still delivers training to the health-care industry, especially for hos-pital support services.

This includes a range of tech-nical training such as the safe de-contamination of medicalinstruments used in operations

‘Centre will be the onlyone like it in the world’

Taxi firm creates own MOT centreFund helps hotel moderniseA HOTEL is hoping to rise toa four-star establishmentthanks to a regional grant.

The Abbey Hotel has se-cured £85,000 in fundingfrom the West of EnglandLocal Enterprise Partner-ship (LEP) through its Goingfor Growth initiative.

The money is being usedby hotel owners, Ian andChrista Taylor, to completenecessary upgrades to thehotel’s water system andlift.

Mr Taylor and his wifetook over the hotel in 2012with plans for £1.5 milliontransformation of the Bathcity centre venue.

He said that in the last twoyears the couple had beenable to complete some of theplanned works such asrefurbishing the bar and

reception areas and creatingthe Allium Brasserie.

However, a reluctance bythe banks to lend moneyforced the pair to seekfunding from alternatives o u rc e s.

The hotel is currently hav-ing a new plant and boilerroom fitted, along with newpiping throughout the hotelto help with water pressure.

Once the work is done, allof the hotel bedrooms will berefurbished. A new lift is albeing fitted.

Mr Taylor said: “We hopeto reposition the hotel as areally good four-star hotel,currently it is a three-star.We will also be losing theBest Western name.

“The hotel has neverreally connected really wellwith the city. Since we’ve had

Fund winners

Continued on opposite page

Fund winners

It has since added InnovationDojo to its offer, a tool to help com-panies work with suppliers on newi d e a s.

The Going for Growth grant willbe used to develop the platformfur ther.

“It’s a bit like on eBay you havepeople who set up eBay shops,” saidAlan. “We want people who havespecialist knowledge and contactsin a field, say energy, to be able torun their own procurement busi-ness through Market Dojo.”

Most of the company’s work isoutsourced but as part of the termsof the grant, it has pledged to re-cruit at least one member of staffthis year, most likely in develop-ment or sales and marketing.

Alan added: “Hopefully it will bemore than one person, we’ve cer-tainly got plenty to do.”


it we’ve tried very hard to bepart of the community inBath creating the Alliumand bar area.

“This is a privately ownedhotel. The people who own itare here, this is not a brandhiding behind a companyn a m e. ”

Abbey Hotel, which lastyear enjoyed a 96 per centoccupancy rate, is hiring sixnew members of staff as partof the funding deal with theL E P.

Ian Taylor (right)

“We ’ve tried veryhard to be part ofthe community inBath

Alun Rafique

“People wanted to run the auctions themselvesrather than bring in consultants. We saw that shiftin the paradigm and developed Market Dojosoftware to allow them to do that

� The Market Dojo team, fromleft, Nick Drewe, Alun Rafiqueand Nicholas Martin

Juan Sanzo (above)

“We decided toinvest £150,000 inbuilding our ownlane to do testingin-house

A TAXI company that started withone car and now has a fleet of 180vehicles has been awarded a grantto expand its business in a newd i re c t i o n .

Eurotaxis, a Yate-based taxi andcoach hire firm, has been awarded£22,888 which it has invested inbuilding a commercial vehicles’MOT lane.

The idea came about because ofthe difficulty and cost the companyfound in getting its fleet to theofficial testing centres.

Founder Juan Sanzo said: “Yo ucan never get an appointment – itwas a real problem.

“And when you did it wastaking four hours to take avehicle for testing and then bring itb a ck .

“So we decided to invest £150,000in building our own lane to do iti n - h o u s e. ”

As well as cutting the wasted

time and fuel of getting theirvehicles to and from the test centre,the lane will be open for otherbusinesses to hire.

While Juan says the lane willnever be a big profit maker for thefirm, it should eventually cover theinvestment and running costs,while saving money in otherw ay s.

The lane current has a VOSAtester on site three days a week, butthe hope is to extend that six,which could mean up to 80 com-mercial vehicle tests each week.

Juan started Eurotaxis in 1980and now employs 95 people as wellas using a number of self-employedd r ive r s.

It is a family firm that also em-ploys Juan’s wife Anne as man-aging director, sons Keith andWilliam as directors andson-in-law Toby runs the work-s h o p.

around the country, maintenanceof hospital medical equipment andmedical gas supplies to operatingtheatres, electrical, lift, air con-ditioning, water hygiene, fire andgeneral estates services to supportall those working in the healthcaresector, both in the UK and aroundthe world.


� Right, Eastwood Park chiefexecutive John Thatcher;above, the planned newcentre; below, medicalequipment training at thec e n t re

� MORE APPLICANTS: PAGE 8

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Au to m ot i ve

ACARBON components man-ufacturer is racing ahead ofthe competition with its newhi-tech wheel. The carbonwheel has been developed

with an as yet unnamed British carmaker and could be a big break-through for two-year-old CarbonO n e.

The Wick-based firm was set up byChris Marsh, 55, and inventor BevisMusk, who have both been in theautomotive industry for years.

The firm employs four people buthas room to grow and hopes to take onfive people this year and as many as25 within a few years.

Chris said: “Carbon fibre is muchlighter and stronger than alumini-um, which is why companies such asAirbus use it.

“We also make seat components,such as legs. If the part is 1 kilolighter, then if you have 300 seatst h at ’s quite a difference in weight,which in turn helps fuel efficiency.”

Some of Carbon One’s work in-volves designing and building fibrecomponents which it then hands overto customers.

But it hopes to manufacture moreitself at the Wick site. The firm couldmake around 3,000 of the new carboncar wheels each year.

“You can’t patent the wheel, that’sbeen around a long time,” said Chris.“But we patent the recipe and pro-cesses use to make it.

“We will manufacture it here andemploy more and more people.”

The firm has been awarded £98,500

from the Going for Growth fund,which will be used to help fund theequipment it needs to manufactureits products and grow the business.

Chris said: “It’s fantastic that wehave been awarded this grant. Mywife read about it and I thought, I’ll

apply for that. We also work closelywith HSBC and they have been veryhelpful.

“It means we’ll be looking to em-ploy people in skilled manufacturingjobs. We’re not looking for scientists,but people who are handy.”

‘You can’t patent the wheel’ – butfirm has reinvented the ‘re c i p e ’

Fa s h i o n

Fabric designersaim for materialgains by lookingafter production

AFABRIC firm that producesdesigns for couture fashionhouses plans to startmanufacturing, thanks to agrant from the Going for

Growth fund.Dash and Miller, based in Barton

Hill, was founded four years ago byJuliet Bailey and Franki Brewer. Itdesigns fabrics and patterns which itsells to the high street and high-endfashion industry.

Currently it outsources all of itsproduction, but wants to set up itsown production facility so that it canhave more control over its work.

Juliet, 31, said they planned to buya loom and start production by thistime next year.

“We ’re touring places in Englandthat still manufacture to see what wecan learn,” she said.

“It’s like buying a car – there arehundreds of different makes andspecifications, so we need to find outexactly what we need.”

They hope to find the equipmentsecond-hand, and the £24,000 grantwill help them to do that.

As part of the move, Juliet andFranki, 28, are forming a new lim-ited company, The Bristol WeavingMill, and aim to take on the equi-

valent of one-and-a-half full-timewo rke r s.

The usual process sees the pairand their three freelance workersdesign a fabric and have it made inhand-sample sizes. If a company isinterested, they will produce a big-ger sample, around 30m, from whichthe customer will make test gar-m e n t s.

And then if that’s a success, thecustomer will order more fabricfrom which to make clothes to sell.

Previously, the firm sold the copy-right with its designs but, with thenew manufacturing facility, it plansto change that.

Juliet said: “Manuf acturingourselves makes it easier to retaincopyright because when we give ourdesigns to someone else to produce,it goes on their system and they getpart of the copyright.

“We will also be able to retainmore profit and control.”

AN Avonmouth firm that ex-ports equipment for a spe-cialist process to 120countries is creating fourjobs as it looks to expand.

Power-Sprays Ltd manufacturesequipment needed to produce glassfibre reinforcing concrete, a materialused in things such as roof tiles andpanels on building facades.

The business employs 26 peopleand is keen to hang onto itswell-trained staff.

Managing director Ian White said:“Demand for our business can varyand we want to make sure we keepour skilled workers so we also do highend fabrication work for companiesincluding Wessex Water.

“We are expanding that area. TheGoing for Growth grant will give us20 per cent of a £250,000 investmentextend the factory to make roomfor that.”

At the same time, the firm is look-ing to take on two fabricators and anadministration role, as well as hiringan international sales and marketingmana g er.

The company was founded in 1962in London but got its break after

helping build equipment to createwhat was then a new product –fibre-glass reinforced concrete.

Once people began finding ways touse the material, the firm waswell-placed to take advantage. It latermoved to Avonmouth in 1990, whichis well situated for its exports.

The Going for Growth campaigncame at a great time forPower-Sprays, which has been grow-

ing between five and 10 per centa year and has a turnover of around£3 million in the core part of thebu s i n e s s.

“We had been weighing up therisks of doing this and the oppor-tunity for the grant made it worth-while taking the step now rather thandelaying it another few years,” saidIan.

He also believes it helped the firm

New jobs at fibre-glass concrete firmTeam counting on grant to preserve knowledgeTUCKED away in Bath is a team ofexperts who on a weekly basis counthundreds if not thousands of organ-i s m s.

The company, Marine EcologicalSurveys, is hoping a modest grant of£10,000 from the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership will help pro-tect the art of taxonomy for future gen-e r at i o n s.

Taxonomy is the field of science thatinvolves describing, identifying andnaming different organisms.

Based on Palace Yard Mews the com-pany provides scientific advice on theimpacts of industrial and constructiondevelopments in the marine environ-ment. Working with companies suchas Cemex, Tarmac and Hanson, it hasbeen involved in significant projectslike the London Gateway Project.

The experts at Marine EcologicalSurveys take an initial base study of anarea before work starts and then runregular studies throughout the projectmonitoring its impact.

Lab manager Emma Delduca saidnaming animals was not taught at uni-versity anymore and those with theskills were traditionally found in mu-seums but without the junior staffmembers to pass the skills on to.

The National Environment Re-search Council recently identified tax-onomy as one of the top ten skills

needed for the country. Miss Delducasaid: “We want to bridge the gapbetween academia and industry, buildbridges with museums and world ex-perts so the knowledge is passed on.”

Marine Ecological Surveys, ownedby parent company Gardline Group,plans to use the money to help create adatabase of samples from internation-al waters, particularly around WestAfrica and Arctic, which are morecomplex than UK waters.

Managing director, Dr Lindsey JaneSeiderer, said expanding the com-p a ny ’s remit was key to keeping theskills in the South West.

“The industry in the UK is a maturemarket and we’ve come to the realisa-tion we need to bring in foreignsamples. Our parent company is alarge company and they do interna-tional work. We need to be able to keepthat work in house.

“We need continuity of samples inthe labs here. We don’t want to losethese critical Taxomologist skills herein Bath and the South West.”

Dr Seiderer said the company hadlong term plans to set up an appren-ticeship in taxonomy.

“We want to train them to enter themarket with us or with other people.With a national or international short-age of taxomologists it’s importantthat type of apprenticeship exists.”

New technologyto halve wastesent to landfillA SOUTH Bristol recycling businesswill be able to cut the amount ofwaste it has to send to landfill bymore than half, thanks to a grant fora new machine.

ETM Recycling was founded byETM Group boss Eddie McCormackafter he got fed up with the amountof waste his business and otherfirms ended up in the ground.

The family business – wife Hilaryis company secretary, son Andy op-erations director and daughter Amybusiness manager – now providescommercial waste management andskip hire services from its AshtonVale base.

Amy, 28, said: “After researchingthe sector, Dad noticed a commonmisconception among SMEs thatrecycling was expensive andtime-consuming.

“So in May 2010, he started ETMRecycling in a hope to divert asmuch of Bristol’s waste as possiblefrom landfill and to provide a ser-vice that was cost-effective andcl i e n t - fo c u s e d . ”

The firm employs 20 staff and

aims to recycle as much of the wasteit processes as possible.

But despite that goal, some ma-terials, usually small pieces of glass,wood, metals and soil, end up inlandfill because of how it is clas-sified by the Environment Agencyafter going through the sorting ma-ch i n e s.

ETM has been awarded £54,000 tobuy a machine called a densityseparator, which will allow the firmto extract material with some valuefrom these left overs.

Amy said: “Last year ETM Re-cycling disposed of 3,000 tonnes ofthis type of waste to landfill.

“The density separator will allowus to process more material, min-imise downtime and build profit-ability, it can separate material lessthan 100ml according to density andphysical size.

“Based on product testing 85 percent of this waste is recyclable,therefore this would divert 1,879.5tonnes from landfill in sixm o n t h s. ”

The firm will be taking on fournew staff as a result, a HGV driver,machine operator, plant operatorand a shovel operator.

� The ETM team

Re cyc l i n g


Juliet Bailey

“ It’s like buying a car,there are hundreds ofdifferent makes andspecifications so weneed to find out exactlywhat we need.

New home andopen studios forveggie venue

A VEGETARIAN restaurant and livemusic venue is planning to move toa new home and open studios fornew businesses.

Mark Wolff founded Noodles &Nosh after 45 years working as ach e f.

He started serving food at musicfestivals in 2002, then “ended upleasing a small site servingvegetarian food that not enoughpeople wanted”.

Within six months he started tocombine his loves of food and musicand started to have live music at theve nu e.

With guidance from Pete Rowe andTom Alpin at the Old Duke, apopular jazz venue, he was on hisw ay.

Mark said: “We began to supportlive music and allowed people thatplayed with us to keep the moneythat was made from the door, wemade sure we gave the bands a riderof beer and food and handed themoney over, so everyone was on awin-win situation.

“We support local bands, we havea small venue and, and are veryproud of the music that has beenplayed in the venue and all thepeople who have made a success ofthe venue.”

The family business, run by Mark,62, Stephanie Wolff, 38, and AdamWolff, 29, has been awarded £100,000to relocate from St Stephen’s Streetto St Nicholas Street and redeveloptwo old buildings.

“The money will go in part to helprestore two derelict buildings wewill be putting in Mr Wolfs, sixartisan studios, a micro-breweryplus two retail shops and have aliving garden at the back.

“The building will have solarpower, a biomass boiler, rain waterharvester, all the windows will berepaired and most of the walls willbe restored to the brick which has acombination brick and stone.”

He added: “We expect when theproject is finished we will createseven new full-time jobs, plus pre-serving 17 jobs, there will also bespace for eight start-up businesswith affordable rent.”

Fo o d


Chris Marsh

“You can’t patent thewheel, that’s beenaround a long time

Labmanager

EmmaDelduca

“We wantto bridgethe gapbetweenacademiaandi n d u s t r y,buildbridgeswithmuseumsand worldexperts sotheknowledgeis passedon

� Bevis Musk ((left) and Chris Marsh of Carbon One

with another issue. Although it ownsits building, the land is leased fromBristol City Council. The lease wasrunning down and the firm had foundit difficult to negotiate a new one.

“I believe the involvement withGoing for Growth and this Govern-ment-supported grant helped turnthat around and create a much morepositive attitude from the council,”said Ian.

� Franki Brewer and Juliet Bailey at Dash and Miller, based in Barton Hill

S c i e n ce


� Sand-stonec o l o u re dpanels ona develop-ment inM a s d a r,Abu Dhabi,madeusingP o w e r-SpraysGRCp ro d u c t i o nmachinery;a sprayerpictured inuse, right

EPB-E01-S4

EPB-

E01-

S4


Au to m ot i ve

ACARBON components man-ufacturer is racing ahead ofthe competition with its newhi-tech wheel. The carbonwheel has been developed

with an as yet unnamed British carmaker and could be a big break-through for two-year-old CarbonO n e.

The Wick-based firm was set up byChris Marsh, 55, and inventor BevisMusk, who have both been in theautomotive industry for years.

The firm employs four people buthas room to grow and hopes to take onfive people this year and as many as25 within a few years.

Chris said: “Carbon fibre is muchlighter and stronger than alumini-um, which is why companies such asAirbus use it.

“We also make seat components,such as legs. If the part is 1 kilolighter, then if you have 300 seatst h at ’s quite a difference in weight,which in turn helps fuel efficiency.”

Some of Carbon One’s work in-volves designing and building fibrecomponents which it then hands overto customers.

But it hopes to manufacture moreitself at the Wick site. The firm couldmake around 3,000 of the new carboncar wheels each year.

“You can’t patent the wheel, that’sbeen around a long time,” said Chris.“But we patent the recipe and pro-cesses use to make it.

“We will manufacture it here andemploy more and more people.”

The firm has been awarded £98,500

from the Going for Growth fund,which will be used to help fund theequipment it needs to manufactureits products and grow the business.

Chris said: “It’s fantastic that wehave been awarded this grant. Mywife read about it and I thought, I’ll

apply for that. We also work closelywith HSBC and they have been veryhelpful.

“It means we’ll be looking to em-ploy people in skilled manufacturingjobs. We’re not looking for scientists,but people who are handy.”

‘You can’t patent the wheel’ – butfirm has reinvented the ‘re c i p e ’

Fa s h i o n

Fabric designersaim for materialgains by lookingafter production

AFABRIC firm that producesdesigns for couture fashionhouses plans to startmanufacturing, thanks to agrant from the Going for

Growth fund.Dash and Miller, based in Barton

Hill, was founded four years ago byJuliet Bailey and Franki Brewer. Itdesigns fabrics and patterns which itsells to the high street and high-endfashion industry.

Currently it outsources all of itsproduction, but wants to set up itsown production facility so that it canhave more control over its work.

Juliet, 31, said they planned to buya loom and start production by thistime next year.

“We ’re touring places in Englandthat still manufacture to see what wecan learn,” she said.

“It’s like buying a car – there arehundreds of different makes andspecifications, so we need to find outexactly what we need.”

They hope to find the equipmentsecond-hand, and the £24,000 grantwill help them to do that.

As part of the move, Juliet andFranki, 28, are forming a new lim-ited company, The Bristol WeavingMill, and aim to take on the equi-

valent of one-and-a-half full-timewo rke r s.

The usual process sees the pairand their three freelance workersdesign a fabric and have it made inhand-sample sizes. If a company isinterested, they will produce a big-ger sample, around 30m, from whichthe customer will make test gar-m e n t s.

And then if that’s a success, thecustomer will order more fabricfrom which to make clothes to sell.

Previously, the firm sold the copy-right with its designs but, with thenew manufacturing facility, it plansto change that.

Juliet said: “Manuf acturingourselves makes it easier to retaincopyright because when we give ourdesigns to someone else to produce,it goes on their system and they getpart of the copyright.

“We will also be able to retainmore profit and control.”

AN Avonmouth firm that ex-ports equipment for a spe-cialist process to 120countries is creating fourjobs as it looks to expand.

Power-Sprays Ltd manufacturesequipment needed to produce glassfibre reinforcing concrete, a materialused in things such as roof tiles andpanels on building facades.

The business employs 26 peopleand is keen to hang onto itswell-trained staff.

Managing director Ian White said:“Demand for our business can varyand we want to make sure we keepour skilled workers so we also do highend fabrication work for companiesincluding Wessex Water.

“We are expanding that area. TheGoing for Growth grant will give us20 per cent of a £250,000 investmentextend the factory to make roomfor that.”

At the same time, the firm is look-ing to take on two fabricators and anadministration role, as well as hiringan international sales and marketingmana g er.

The company was founded in 1962in London but got its break after

helping build equipment to createwhat was then a new product –fibre-glass reinforced concrete.

Once people began finding ways touse the material, the firm waswell-placed to take advantage. It latermoved to Avonmouth in 1990, whichis well situated for its exports.

The Going for Growth campaigncame at a great time forPower-Sprays, which has been grow-

ing between five and 10 per centa year and has a turnover of around£3 million in the core part of thebu s i n e s s.

“We had been weighing up therisks of doing this and the oppor-tunity for the grant made it worth-while taking the step now rather thandelaying it another few years,” saidIan.

He also believes it helped the firm

New jobs at fibre-glass concrete firmTeam counting on grant to preserve knowledgeTUCKED away in Bath is a team ofexperts who on a weekly basis counthundreds if not thousands of organ-i s m s.

The company, Marine EcologicalSurveys, is hoping a modest grant of£10,000 from the West of England LocalEnterprise Partnership will help pro-tect the art of taxonomy for future gen-e r at i o n s.

Taxonomy is the field of science thatinvolves describing, identifying andnaming different organisms.

Based on Palace Yard Mews the com-pany provides scientific advice on theimpacts of industrial and constructiondevelopments in the marine environ-ment. Working with companies suchas Cemex, Tarmac and Hanson, it hasbeen involved in significant projectslike the London Gateway Project.

The experts at Marine EcologicalSurveys take an initial base study of anarea before work starts and then runregular studies throughout the projectmonitoring its impact.

Lab manager Emma Delduca saidnaming animals was not taught at uni-versity anymore and those with theskills were traditionally found in mu-seums but without the junior staffmembers to pass the skills on to.

The National Environment Re-search Council recently identified tax-onomy as one of the top ten skills

needed for the country. Miss Delducasaid: “We want to bridge the gapbetween academia and industry, buildbridges with museums and world ex-perts so the knowledge is passed on.”

Marine Ecological Surveys, ownedby parent company Gardline Group,plans to use the money to help create adatabase of samples from internation-al waters, particularly around WestAfrica and Arctic, which are morecomplex than UK waters.

Managing director, Dr Lindsey JaneSeiderer, said expanding the com-p a ny ’s remit was key to keeping theskills in the South West.

“The industry in the UK is a maturemarket and we’ve come to the realisa-tion we need to bring in foreignsamples. Our parent company is alarge company and they do interna-tional work. We need to be able to keepthat work in house.

“We need continuity of samples inthe labs here. We don’t want to losethese critical Taxomologist skills herein Bath and the South West.”

Dr Seiderer said the company hadlong term plans to set up an appren-ticeship in taxonomy.

“We want to train them to enter themarket with us or with other people.With a national or international short-age of taxomologists it’s importantthat type of apprenticeship exists.”

New technologyto halve wastesent to landfillA SOUTH Bristol recycling businesswill be able to cut the amount ofwaste it has to send to landfill bymore than half, thanks to a grant fora new machine.

ETM Recycling was founded byETM Group boss Eddie McCormackafter he got fed up with the amountof waste his business and otherfirms ended up in the ground.

The family business – wife Hilaryis company secretary, son Andy op-erations director and daughter Amybusiness manager – now providescommercial waste management andskip hire services from its AshtonVale base.

Amy, 28, said: “After researchingthe sector, Dad noticed a commonmisconception among SMEs thatrecycling was expensive andtime-consuming.

“So in May 2010, he started ETMRecycling in a hope to divert asmuch of Bristol’s waste as possiblefrom landfill and to provide a ser-vice that was cost-effective andcl i e n t - fo c u s e d . ”

The firm employs 20 staff and

aims to recycle as much of the wasteit processes as possible.

But despite that goal, some ma-terials, usually small pieces of glass,wood, metals and soil, end up inlandfill because of how it is clas-sified by the Environment Agencyafter going through the sorting ma-ch i n e s.

ETM has been awarded £54,000 tobuy a machine called a densityseparator, which will allow the firmto extract material with some valuefrom these left overs.

Amy said: “Last year ETM Re-cycling disposed of 3,000 tonnes ofthis type of waste to landfill.

“The density separator will allowus to process more material, min-imise downtime and build profit-ability, it can separate material lessthan 100ml according to density andphysical size.

“Based on product testing 85 percent of this waste is recyclable,therefore this would divert 1,879.5tonnes from landfill in sixm o n t h s. ”

The firm will be taking on fournew staff as a result, a HGV driver,machine operator, plant operatorand a shovel operator.

� The ETM team

Re cyc l i n g


Juliet Bailey

“ It’s like buying a car,there are hundreds ofdifferent makes andspecifications so weneed to find out exactlywhat we need.

New home andopen studios forveggie venue

A VEGETARIAN restaurant and livemusic venue is planning to move toa new home and open studios fornew businesses.

Mark Wolff founded Noodles &Nosh after 45 years working as ach e f.

He started serving food at musicfestivals in 2002, then “ended upleasing a small site servingvegetarian food that not enoughpeople wanted”.

Within six months he started tocombine his loves of food and musicand started to have live music at theve nu e.

With guidance from Pete Rowe andTom Alpin at the Old Duke, apopular jazz venue, he was on hisw ay.

Mark said: “We began to supportlive music and allowed people thatplayed with us to keep the moneythat was made from the door, wemade sure we gave the bands a riderof beer and food and handed themoney over, so everyone was on awin-win situation.

“We support local bands, we havea small venue and, and are veryproud of the music that has beenplayed in the venue and all thepeople who have made a success ofthe venue.”

The family business, run by Mark,62, Stephanie Wolff, 38, and AdamWolff, 29, has been awarded £100,000to relocate from St Stephen’s Streetto St Nicholas Street and redeveloptwo old buildings.

“The money will go in part to helprestore two derelict buildings wewill be putting in Mr Wolfs, sixartisan studios, a micro-breweryplus two retail shops and have aliving garden at the back.

“The building will have solarpower, a biomass boiler, rain waterharvester, all the windows will berepaired and most of the walls willbe restored to the brick which has acombination brick and stone.”

He added: “We expect when theproject is finished we will createseven new full-time jobs, plus pre-serving 17 jobs, there will also bespace for eight start-up businesswith affordable rent.”

Fo o d


Chris Marsh

“You can’t patent thewheel, that’s beenaround a long time

Labmanager

EmmaDelduca

“We wantto bridgethe gapbetweenacademiaandi n d u s t r y,buildbridgeswithmuseumsand worldexperts sotheknowledgeis passedon

� Bevis Musk ((left) and Chris Marsh of Carbon One

with another issue. Although it ownsits building, the land is leased fromBristol City Council. The lease wasrunning down and the firm had foundit difficult to negotiate a new one.

“I believe the involvement withGoing for Growth and this Govern-ment-supported grant helped turnthat around and create a much morepositive attitude from the council,”said Ian.

� Franki Brewer and Juliet Bailey at Dash and Miller, based in Barton Hill

S c i e n ce


� Sand-stonec o l o u re dpanels ona develop-ment inM a s d a r,Abu Dhabi,madeusingP o w e r-SpraysGRCp ro d u c t i o nmachinery;a sprayerpictured inuse, right

EPB-

E01-

S4

8

The Going for Growth Fund

FOR Antony Corfield and histeam, a well-earned holidaymust be in offing anytimesoon. The half dozen or so staffat the West of England Local

Enter prise’s Wilder Street officeshave been buried under more than300 applications for money from theGoing for Growth Fund since lasts u m m e r.

Programme manager Antony hasbeen leading his team in the processof first sifting through the basic ap-plications, then where possible turn-ing them into successful ones whichthe LEP could approve.

“We ’ve tried to work with peoplewhere we can,” he said. “We want togive away the money. so rather thanjust say ‘no’ if something doesn’t meetthe criteria, we’ve looked deeper tofind out if it could.”

Applying for public money is nevereasy, but the team never thought itwould be.

“This kind of money hasn’t beenavailable previously in this size ofsum,” said Antony. “There was theSouth West Regional DevelopmentAgency but that tended to be biggerprojects, and that’s it.

“Small and medium-sized busi-nesses wouldn’t have the experienceof applying for public funding so wewe re n’t anticipating they wouldknow exactly what they had to do.”

The complications come from thelaws on State aid, which govern pro-jects such as this. So the rules ongiving £20,000 to a Bristol builder arethe same as those if you wanted tobail out a Greek national airline.

All to stop Governments interfer-ing in a common market in favour ofhome companies.

The grants were available for foura re a s :

� Capital investment, such as officesand machines� Research and development, a broadarea but you can only fund up to thepoint you have a product you arelooking to sell� T raining� Small businesses started bywo m e n .

Antony said: “The reason we cansupport these four areas is there arerecognised market failures across

Europe. For example there is a failurein the market to give SMEs access tocapital finance.”

So there were some tough calls to bemade to tell companies who werereally outside the remit, they werenot eligible for help.

The partnership with the BristolPost was a big success, getting thecampaign to many businesses whowould otherwise have missed it.

And the results in numbers of ap-plications were there to see.

Antony said: “We received morefirst round applications than we wereanticipating and all the applicationsin total came to more than the fundswe had available, so we were oversubscribed.”

But lessons have been learned from

It hasn’t always been easy - butwe want to give away the money

� Above, Antony Corfield with his team – Karl Williams, Andrew Youl, Anne Leach,Abbie Evans, Lorelei Hunt and Amber Thomas – at West of England Local EnterprisePartnership. Left, the Post launch in May last year.


OTHER successful applicants:

� Capital grants(Name of firm, bracket of amount claimed)KWS BioTest Ltd, £200,000-£500,000Open 24 Seven £200,000-£500,000DBS Bristol Ltd £100,000-£200,000100 Acre Wood Limited £100,000-£200,000Dr Jackson Ltd £100,000-£200,000YMCA £100,000-£200,000Bladud House £100,000-£200,000Medical Models Ltd £100,000-£200,000Bristol Power Community Interest Company£100,000-£200,000Grillstock Limited £50,000-£100,000Latcham Direct Limited £50,000-£100,000IRIS Intelligence £50,000-£100,000Plantforce Rentals Ltd £50,000-£100,000Digital Visitor Limited £50,000-£100,000Bristol Sports Centre £50,000-£100,000PMG Services £50,000-£100,000Fast Stop Ltd £50,000-£100,000The Bristol Weaving Mill £50,000-£100,000Artwork Solutions Ltd £50,000-£100,000The Cowshed (Bath) Ltd £50,000-£100,000ECH Engineering £50,000-£100,000Boston Tea Party Group £50,000-£100,000Farrington's Farm Shop £50,000-£100,000Bristol Beer Factory £10,000-£50,000Becket Hall Day Nursery Ltd £10,000-£50,000Chandos Delicatessen Limited£10,000-£50,000

Ashman Jones London Road Vet Clinic£10,000-£50,000RICE £10,000-£50,000John Sheppard Butchers Ltd£10,000-£50,000Rio Pool Construction Ltd £10,000-£50,000Express Laboratories Ltd £10,000-£50,000Air Systems (SW) Ltd £10,000-£50,000Somerdell Furniture £10,000-£50,000The Cowshed (Bristol) Ltd £10,000-£50,000Floating Harbour Studios £10,000-£50,000Dynamic Heating Services Ltd£10,000-£50,000Universal Yoga £10,000-£50,000Crossway Stables Ltd £10,000-£50,000Cavendish Cooks of Bath £10,000-£50,000Geoff Uren Joinery £10,000-£50,000Floating Harbour Studios £10,000-£50,000Marshfield Bakery £10,000-£50,000Hair at 58 £10,000-£50,000Bristol Rock Guitar £10,000-£50,000Watbeck Ltd £10,000-£50,000

� Research and developmentBlu Wireless Technology Ltd£500,000-£1,000,000Horstman Defence Systems Ltd£200,000-£500,000Neighbourly Ltd £200,000-£500,000Seetru Ltd £200,000-£500,000Shift Thought Ltd £200,000-£500,000On Direct Business Services

£200,000-£500,000Digital TV Labs Ltd (Development)£200,000-£500,000Blue Speck Financial Ltd £200,000-£500,000Nessy Learning Limited £200,000-£500,000C Enterprise (UK) Ltd £100,000-£200,000Viper Subsea Technology Limited£100,000-£200,000Esoterix Systems Ltd £100,000-£200,000Horstman Defence Systems Ltd£100,000-£200,000Alastair Sawday Publishing Co Ltd£100,000-£200,000Envolve Technology Limited£100,000-£200,000SecondSync Limited £100,000-£200,000MIAtech Biosolutions Ltd £50,000-£100,000IRIS Intelligence £50,000-£100,000Aurora Scientific Ltd £50,000-£100,000Cloudfind Ltd £50,000-£100,000Multicom Products Ltd £50,000-£100,000AptCore Ltd £50,000-£100,000HHO Fuelsaver Ltd £50,000-£100,000Splash & Ripple Limited £10,000-£50,000NanoScope Services Ltd £10,000-£50,000Auriga Energy Ltd £10,000-£50,000Aquatest Environmental Diagnostics£10,000-£50,000Aquatest Environmental Diagnostics£10,000-£50,000CiteAb Ltd £10,000-£50,000100% Cotton Ltd £10,000-£50,000

Clean Energy Ltd £10,000-£50,000Armadillo Associates Ltd £10,000-£50,000Apriori Digital Ltd £10,000-£50,000

� OtherImport Export Services £100,000-£200,000CFH Total Document Management Ltd£50,000-£100,000TeenYoga £50,000-£100,000Horstman Defence Systems Ltd£50,000-£100,000Gradwell Communications Ltd£50,000-£100,000Bristol Togetehr CIC £50,000-£100,000Lifestyle Solar Systems Ltd £50,000-£100,000A little piece and love £50,000-£100,000BMT Defence Services Ltd £50,000-£100,000Bath Aqua Glass Limited (Warm Glass)£10,000-£50,000Bath Aqua Glass Limited (Stained Glass)£10,000-£50,000Jamitin Ltd £10,000-£50,000The Original Washstand Co Ltd t/a Superus &Butler £10,000-£50,000Ngaged Training & Recruitment£10,000-£50,000Kfraser Textiles £10,000-£50,000Yogawest Ltd £10,000-£50,000ECOTEC Ltd £10,000-£50,000Maternity Sportswear Ltd £10,000-£50,000Take Charge Bikes Ltd £10,000-£50,000Health Apps £10,000-£50,000

the project too. Antony said they triedto keep the application form assimple as possible so it wasn’t ar-duous and off-putting. But the down-side was that once the application hitA n t o ny ’s desk, there was often lotsmore work to do, with follow-up callsand more details needed before itcould be approved.

“That slowed the process down andis why it has taken longer than wewould have liked to get to this stage,”he said.

And there are more grants stillbeing processed. So the team can’t allgo off on holiday just yet. Once theoutstanding 30 applications havebeen dealt with, there’ll be a secondround for the leftover cash. Hopefully,everyone will get a week off first.

In numbers� THE Going for Growth Fund isa £25 million pot of money theWest of England Partnershipsecured from the RegionalGrowth Fund to kickstart growthin the former Avon area.� The Bristol Post launched theGoing for Growth campaign onthe front page on May 17.Companies only had 10 weeks toapply before the July deadline.� More than 300 companiesapplied. So far 138 have beensuccessful.� Those successful bids total£11.85 million in grants.� They will unlock £41.4 millionof private investment, thereforebringing £53 million into thee c o n o m y.� They will create 1,004 jobs andsafeguard more than 500 more.� Another 30 applications areunder consideration, for £6.8million, which could lever afurther £17 million of privatesector investment and create 255more jobs.� T h e re ’s still about £6 million leftin the pot. New applications willbe sought in March, via the LEPwebsitew w w. w e s t o f e n g l a n d l e p . c o . u k oremail [email protected] to registeri n t e re s t .

Successful applicants have tospend the money by April 2015.

EPB-

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w w w. b r i s t o l p o s t . c o . u k

60p

Friday to Sunday, May 17 to 19, 2013

on sale fromFriday to

Sunday

LET’S GROW!

PLUS Your guide

to the Big Lunch

What to do

with your time

and money inBristol this

weekend

see p36

YOURESSENTIALMAGAZINE

INSIDE

We’re looking for 400 local firms, big or

small, to apply for a share of £25million

ONLY growth will help our reces-

sion-hit region to recover from the

worst downturn in a generation.

Only by growing will local busi-

nesses be able to make more money,

employ more people and get the

economy moving again.

But growth needs investment –

and that is where the banks are

failing many local firms who look to

them to provide the cash they need

to develop new ideas and take on

new staff.From today, however, there is

another way for local companies to

get the cash they need to kick-start

their fortunes. The money is coming

from an impressive £25million fund

secured from the Government by

the West of England Local Enter-

prise Partnership (LEP). But there’s

a catch – it has to be applied for by

the end of July.

And that’s why, today, the Bristol

Po s t is joining forces with the LEP to

encourage 400 local businesses – big

or small – to go for growth and bid

for a share of this “once-in-a-life-

time” pot of cash.

As well as helping to boost the

economy, our joint Going for Growth

campaign – the money for which

comes from the Government’s Re-

gional Growth Fund – is aiming to

create or safeguard at least 1,300

Boy ’s amazing

recovery after

fall from windowTurn to page 4

Comment

Turn to page 2

Matthew crew

tell of the most

dreadful stormsTurn to page 6

Children urged

not to play in

fire-hit schoolTurn to page 28

WeekendWeekendwhat to do with your time and money in Bristol on sale From Friday, may 17, 2013 issue 52

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Documents

Going For Growth 05 February 2014