A new Chorley based business has created 3 jobs after being the first in the borough to be awarded a grant from Fuse Fund, a £4m Regional Growth Fund (RGF) programme that helps young businesses in Lancashire achieve growth.
NorthWest Waterjet Limited, based at Chorley North Industrial Park, has been awarded a partial grant of £23,372 to help them purchase high tech machinery needed to become competitive. It contributes to a total project cost of £93,488.
Andrew Dodd, along with his business partners Carl Sandell and Eddie Grimshaw, launched the business in November 2013 after recognising there was a gap in the market for offering water jet cutting in the area. The new state of the art machinery uses high pressured water mixed with an abrasive garnet, which can cut through virtually anything. It will enable the business to appeal to new customers in markets such as the aerospace industry, who typically favour this cutting method to hot processes such as laser cutting as it does not warp materials.
Commenting on the awarding of the Fuse Fund grant Andrew said: “Without the Fuse Fund we would never have been able to get this venture off the ground. Cash flow is critical when starting up, so having the Fuse Fund contribute to the project has made a huge difference; and because it’s broadened our offer, we’ve seen an immediate uplift in sales.
“We’re pleased to say that business growth has exceeded expectation and we’re seriously considering buying a second machine later this year.”
Grants of between £5,000 and £50,000 are being offered by Fuse Fund, which is supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. The grants contribute a quarter of the overall costs for capital investment projects such as machinery acquisition, property improvement, building expansion, infrastructure improvement, bespoke software and new management systems in businesses trading for less than 36 months.
Commenting on the awarding of the Fuse Fund grant, Steven Cochrane, Director at Regenerate Pennine Lancashire said: “The Fuse Fund has been specifically created to help ambitious young businesses like Northwest Waterjet Ltd grow. It is clearly making a real difference to this business, providing them with a real competitive edge in the area and resulting in their growth.
“We hope other young businesses in the Chorley area that are looking to grow are inspired by their ambition and look forward to receiving many more applications from the area”.
Priority is being given to businesses in the manufacturing, digital and creative, environmental and energy technology sectors, but projects from other business to business sectors are also considered. Applications must be made to the Fuse Fund before 31 December 2014.
Fuse Fund is a private and public sector partnership led by Regenerate Pennine Lancashire and Lancashire Business View, with support provided by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
For further information and eligibility criteria visit www.fusefund.co.uk or call 0800 612 2029.
