Nearly £60m of grants secured by unw team

Jan 13 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

CHARTERED accountants unw has increased the value of grants for its clients to nearly £60m in the last year.

The Newcastle firm said at the beginning of last year that its grants team was nearing a landmark £50m of awards for its clients.

Now that figure has been exceeded and is fast approaching the £60m mark, as several regional businesses advised by unw celebrate being awarded recent GBI (Grant for Business Investment) grants.

The grants have included a previous £1m award for Gateshead-based manufacturer Davy Roll, which makes cast rolls for the steel industry, which allowed it to create 25 jobs.

Now the company, which has been manufacturing on its site since 1847, is being assisted by unw again to help it secure a further grant of £850,000, as part of an £8.5m project to upgrade equipment. During 2009 unw has helped a range of insurance, engineering and manufacturing businesses successfully navigate the complex application process before submission to regional development agency One North East, which administers the scheme in the region.

unw partner and corporate finance department head Neville Bearpark said: “We have had another terrific year which has cemented our position as the largest and most successful grants advisory team in the North East.

“Grant funding is so often overlooked by businesses, either due to a lack of awareness or just because they have not sought the right guidance about how to access such funding.”

Newcastle-based Houghton International, which repairs electric motors and alternators at its Walker plant, was awarded a grant of £200,000 to help expand its business and create 40 skilled jobs.

Another recently announced grant was the £500,000 awarded to fast-growing IT company TSG, which is owned by former Sage boss Graham Wylie.

Mark Simpson, corporate finance manager at unw, said: “The amount of GBI awarded to these companies is a reflection of the faith that the business owners have in their management teams, employees and the North East economy as a whole.

“These are difficult and unprecedented times and it is encouraging to see the success already achieved by these companies and others that we have obtained grants for.”

Sunderland air conditioning, heating and ventilation firm HLA Services landed a £95,000 grant. HLA service and maintenance director Neil Henry said: “As a busy service provider HLA Services greatly appreciated the assistance given by unw in securing the grant in the required time frame allowing us to concentrate on running our business.”

And marine insurer North of England P&I Association secured almost £900,000 of financial assistance with unw’s help for a major project to extend its Quayside headquarters and create 62 jobs.