Fund enables store to recruit new staff

Feb 15 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A RURAL newsagent has received £2,000 in funding after recruiting two people as it builds up its business.

X-Press Stores in Shildon, Co Durham, boosted it staff numbers from four to six by taking on Sarah Nugent, as a shop assistant, and David Evans, as a driver. Both new recruits are from the village.

The business, which offers a shopping delivery service to outlying areas, had been keen to grow but was unaware there was cash help available for recruiting close to home.

The funds came from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which is managed locally by Sedgefield Borough-based enterprise agency SASDA.

SASDA representatives have been visiting small businesses in the area to explain about the local recruitment scheme, which gives the ‘cash back’ funding to businesses after they have recruited a local employee.

X-Press Stores manager Kellie Thompson said: “If staff from SASDA hadn’t walked into the shop and told me what help was available I would of missed out on receiving £2,000, which is a staggering amount for a small business.

“There are a lot of businesses in the region that can prosper from such support. I was considering recruiting a couple of members of staff but in this economic climate the decision was made a lot easier by SASDA as they removed the worry and the risk.”

Mrs Thompson is now considering adding more people and said she would use the scheme again. The funding has been put towards paying off the £25,000 business loan that was taken out to refurbish the shop when it opened in November 2008.

Philip Beasley, chief executive of SASDA, said: “Payroll is usually the biggest outgoing expense to any business, so when companies are on the edge of growth it can be a difficult decision to expand the workforce.

“The Working Neighbourhood Fund very simply allows companies to make the necessary decision and have a safety net while growing. “