FUNDING
That winning feeling – Shak with one of his gongs at the Best New Tees Business Awards . Picture by Chris Booth .
looking for .” At the same time , Shak says businesses in the supply chain are referring potential clients to Nudl , because they know Nudl can help them “ get funded ” in order to do business with them .
For that reason , Shak believes the estimated figure of having created between 800 and 1,000 jobs could be significantly lower than reality .
“ There is business growth within the supply chain as well ,” he says . “ We estimate we ’ ve created between 800 and 1,000 jobs through the funding we have been able to allocate to our clients – but who knows how many more jobs are behind that because in the supply chain there ’ s been an impact as well .
“ I think that ’ s so great and it demonstrates why grant funding schemes are great for the local and the wider economy , improving prosperity across the Tees Valley .”
Success stories for Nudl include supporting the likes of Barrier Architectural , AJH Group , Foley ’ s Equestrian and Social Allies .
Foley ’ s takes in used carpet from the automobile industry , processes it and sells it into the equestrian market .
Funding enabled them to create a new processing method and find a way to reuse a waste product that would have otherwise gone to landfill .
Nudl is also consulting with an Irish company which is putting together a training package over the course of a year , teaching people to be engineers on electric bicycles .
Another company is a supplier into the Commonwealth Games , while R & D projects to create new products Nudl is involved with include a concrete product using a new process which will produce substantially less CO2 emissions per kilo and a paint company developing a product for the outside of buildings that reduces the internal temperature by several degrees .
This has the potential to reduce the need for air conditioning and therefore benefit the environment .
“ It ’ s world-leading technology that is being developed , created and sold and we are working on some topsecret projects which will be major market disruptors ,” Shak says .
“ This just shows you the diversity in the types of business we have helped and the more examples you can get in from different sectors the more it will help people to identify with it and consider us to get funding support .
“ The successes for us are when people are able to complete the project they have needed the funding for .”
Through its work with a diverse range of hundreds of clients around the country , Nudl has also identified gaps in support for businesses that go beyond the funding side of things , seeing in reality their problems and what needs to be fixed .
Shak asks : “ What are we doing - or not doing - to inspire future movers and shakers who can create new technology and new businesses ?
“ We are passionate about trying to have that conversation and involve other people in some way so that wider issues are highlighted .”
One of the issues the team at Nudl have come across is that training opportunities for businesses can be prescriptive to a set course curriculum .
“ You might be able to get money to go on a particular course but that might not necessarily be what you need in your business ,” he says .
“ Business support and business training needs to be delivered in a flexible way .
“ We are trying to get to a point where we can work with others to create a programme of support that is bespoke to each business ’ s needs .”
A construction firm Nudl worked with developed a training facility that has become a centre of excellence , because they had hundreds of jobs available in an area where no course existed to train the staff they needed .
“ The private sector is having to plug the gap ,” says Shak . “ Let ’ s get the offer right . Let ’ s get some innovation . They should have had a governmentbacked scheme to create their bespoke training facility and help to set it up .”
Shak adds that in some instances , people can ’ t access funding because they haven ’ t made their designed product yet , which begs the question , how can those companies start and grow ?
He admits it ’ s always “ disappointing when we can ’ t help someone ” but issues like this demonstrate the need to be one part of a diverse group of people resolving them .
“ Diversity leads to innovation ,” he reflects . “ If you don ’ t have different people , different brains in the room , how do you get these good ideas off the ground ?”
Speaking of Nudl ’ s desire to work with others involved in supporting businesses across the region , to “ further innovate in the business support sphere ”, he adds : “ We want to deliver more innovation into business support programmes .
“ We want to explore how people are restricted by the rules and guidance in some instances and how people view what a scheme of support should be .
“ We want innovation in the Tees Valley and if an innovative company comes to the door , we let them in .”
Above all , Nudl is proud of its status as “ passionate ambassadors for the Tees Valley , promoting the fact that living here you can have a nice quality of life ”.
“ These are exciting times ,” he adds . “ We are seeing massive opportunities for us as a business but the byproduct of this is that we are creating jobs , starting and growing businesses , encouraging innovation .”
For more info , visit nudl . co . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 111