Serving the Teesside Business Community | 41
/ REDCAR NEWS
ENTERPRISE TEAM DELIVERS
A £4.3M BOOST TO TURNOVER
Left: Enterprise Team members celebrated
a £4.3m boost to turnover during the
Redcar and Cleveland Business Forum held
at Hunley Hotel and Golf Club.
A
campaign to boost the spirit of enterprise
across Redcar and Cleveland has been a
resounding success.
The Enterprise Team – part of Redcar
and Cleveland Borough Council – received
investment from the European Regional
Development Fund Competitiveness
Programme in 2013 to help businesses to set
up and flourish in the region.
For 27 months, the team provided advice,
guidance and free workshops to residents
and established businesses.
A recent study carried out by a team from
Durham University has now revealed that
during that time the Enterprise Team helped
companies to record a £4.3m increase
in turnover – a huge boost to the local
economy.
The campaign has provided
assistance to more than 400
businesses, helping them through
difficult challenges.
The assistance provided by the
Enterprise Team helped create 229
new jobs, and safeguarded a further
61 jobs.
The figures have delighted those
tasked with driving economic
regeneration in the borough.
Dale Quigley, Redcar and Cleveland cabinet
member for economic development, said:
“It’s a fantastic achievement and we’re
delighted the campaign did what it set out
to do.
“The report from Durham University is
validation that the funding has been used
effectively.”
The Enterprise Team helped launch 177
new businesses, and all but eight of them
were still trading 12 months after they
launched.
The team also ran self-employment
workshops for more than 2,000 Redcar
and Cleveland residents, with 981 of them
becoming ‘Enterprise Ready’, meaning that
if they should choose to, those individuals
could turn their business ideas into reality.
Letting agency at
the heart of hub
Steel cash funds circus fun
A Redcar-based charity that helps children and
young people dealing with mental health difficulties
is planning some summer holiday fun thanks to a
£2,000 grant from UK Steel Enterprise.
The Link is now buying items for circus skills
workshops and a Mad Hatters Tea Party as well
as board games, musical instruments, books and
art supplies thanks to UKSE’s Community Support
Fund, set up to help projects that improve the
quality of life for people living in steel areas.
Since it was founded in 2010, The Link has helped
more than 1,000 young people aged 3 to 18 and
their families who are experiencing emerging
mental health difficulties or emotional issues. The
money will also give a facelift to its Turner Street
premises with new signs, display boards, shelves
and decorating.
A Redcar
Community
Interest
Company
has
launched
at the
Redcar and
Cleveland
Leisure and
Community
Heart.
The Ethical Lettings Agency,
which has received the support
from Redcar and Cleveland
Council, will work with landlords
to help manage and advertise their
properties, as well as tenants who
are looking for a place to rent.
The company, run by Carla
Keegans (pictured) will create a
grant programme with its profits
solely for the use of community
groups and projects in Redcar and
Cleveland.
ENGINEERS TARGET
£1.5M TURNOVER
An engineering company based in Redcar
has taken on extra office and workshop
space to accommodate a growing team as
it heads for a £1.5m turnover in the next
year.
Sealpump Engineering, a leading
designer of industrial spraying systems,
was the first tenant to move into UK Steel
Enterprise’s Innovation Centre on the
Kirkleatham Business Park at Redcar in
2000.
It is now occupying four times its
original space including two workshops,
having taken over a Birmingham-based
company, developed an innovative new
spraying system for the food industry and
established a global network of distributors
that covers the USA, Canada, Poland,
India, China and Chile.
STUDENT GETS
WORK PLACEMENT
Redcar and Cleveland College student
Jack Spivey has found himself a work
experience placement with North East
firm Press Ahead, which specialises in
marketing, digital support, PR, creative and
media buying services.
The level 3 media student is currently
on a work experience placement at the
consultancy which includes working on
the creative design aspects of his college’s
2015/16 prospectus, alongside other
projects working with the Press Ahead
creative team.
Jack entered a logo design competition
through the college and after being named
creator of the winning entry he was
contacted by managing director of Press
Ahead, Kieron Goldsborough, who invited
him to join the team.
The 19-year-old student plans to move
on to study at university after completing
his college course, then hopes to work in
graphic design after he finishes his studies.