Eight small businesses share £40,000 in grant funding awards
Grants to help small businesses to start-up or grow have been awarded to eight Oxfordshire companies by OxLEP.
The Elevate grants have been awarded to a range of projects to secure jobs and business growth as part of the OxLEP Business-run programme.
Helen Brind - who manages the Growth Hub at OxLEP Business - said: "We have received strong applications for grant support for projects which will create jobs - or secure them - amongst our county’s small business community.
"With a vibrant SME economy, we have been able to make awards to enterprises in training, health, recruitment, services, manufacturing and support.
"Our grants will be enabling projects to be delivered which might otherwise not happen at all - or take longer to deliver - so they will make a real difference to these SMEs."
Companies awarded grants are:
- Active Needle Technology, Culham Science Centre
- Happy Lock Ltd, Bicester
- Adelie Health, Oxford
- Little Elephants, Witney
- Hall Training Systems Ltd, Banbury
- FMB Oxford, Osney Mead (Oxford)
- You HR Consultancy, Wallingford
- SMT Recruitment, Oxford.
Oxford-based Adelie Health was one of the recipients a grant, helping to part-fund their roll-out of a product for diabetics.
One of their directors, Liam McMorrow said: “As a start-up, receiving this grant from OxLEP is a massive help.
"It will be used to reach the next stage in developing our innovative product to help people with diabetes manage their insulin doses."
Active Needle Technology - based at Culham Science Centre - is also a growing health technology company.
They are pressing ahead with their innovation in the specialist needle market which will increase accuracy during biopsies and in targeting during some ultrasound procedures using their image guided needles.
Ian Quirk, the company's founder and CEO, said: “Our Elevate grant is helping with our market access programme. This is a regulated industry, so this grant is enabling us to do the work needed be compliant with medical device rules.
"The faster we can get through this phase, the sooner doctors will get the benefits of our innovation.”
Applications for Elevate grants (round five) opens on the 1 August and closes on the 17 September.
Any SMEs can apply regardless of whether they are a new business or more established business. Grants up to £8,000 can be awarded in part-funding project costs.
Each round is a competitive, with the best applications securing awards. Funding for the programme comes from the European Regional Development Fund and the Department for Business Energy, & Industry Strategy (BEIS).
To help companies to be successful when making an application, OxLEP Business is holding two workshops to guide people through the awards process. They are being held on 7 August and 5 September - contact us for more information.
