REDDITCH BUSINESS HAS SPRING IN ITS STEP AFTER SECURING LOAN

Two Worcestershire companies have benefited from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking support.

Specialist springs and pressings manufacturer Vernier Springs and Pressings, based in Redditch, has invested in four new CNC machines with the support of an asset finance facility worth £420,000 over two-years.

Vernier, which operates two sites in Redditch, produces springs and pressings for more than 120 customers worldwide.

Exports account for approximately 55 per cent of the business’s annual turnover.

businesses across the Midlands, to invest in new disposal vehicles. The move comes after a surge in demand for its services, which has also created three new jobs, with support from a £600,000 hire purchase facility from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

From its at Rushock Trading Estate headquarters, Clearway Ltd collects and recycles waste from factories, restaurants, schools and colleges across the West Midlands and the Black Country.

“The business completes 250,000 collections annually and following a 20 per cent uplift in demand in the last year, asked Lloyds Bank for funding to support expansion”

The privately-owned firm expects the new installations to boost its annual turnover by five per cent in 2019 and its 60-strong team to increase by four employees.

Lloyds has also helped Droitwich recycling and waste management firm Clearaway Limited, which serves 5,000

The business completes 250,000 collections annually and following a 20 per cent uplift in demand in the last year, asked Lloyds Bank for funding to support expansion.

The funding has boosted the company’s fleet to 20 vehicles, enabling an additional 50,000 collections a year. The new vehicles will also allow Clearaway to access clean air zones on collection routes.

GrowAgri Worcestershire, a £2 million initiative between the college and the European Regional Development Fund, will support the development of technologies for use in horticulture and agriculture.

The project is being led by the Worcestershire Local Economic Partnership-funded Agri-Tech Research Centre based at the college and will deliver business support, workshops, technical demonstrations and bespoke consultancy.

The initiative is open to all small to medium-sized Worcestershire businesses.

Agricultural technologies are classed as any innovation that makes horticulture or agriculture more efficient, productive and profitable. They can be derived from science, technology, engineering or social innovation.

GrowAgri Project Manager, Mark Harwood-Browne, said: “This project will be of particular interest to engineers, food technologists, agronomists, systems analysts or anyone developing technologies that could be transferable across different industrial sectors.

“It is also a unique opportunity for Worcestershire enterprises not familiar with the sector to establish key contacts and get an introduction to horticulture and agriculture.”

The project has grants available to support capital purchases that will enable an enterprise to develop technologies or move their business into the agri-tech sector.