A GROWING manufacturing and engineering business in Rugby has used a grant to help with a £150,000 expansion which has.
Precision Laser Processing (PLP) was quickly running out of space at its Butlers Leap Industrial Estate premises.
The 30-year-old business contacted Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub to find out if there were any grants available to help them create a mezzanine.
The Hub put PLP in touch with Rugby Borough Council (RBC), which assisted with a £49,000 grant from the Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant, and the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme which provided two grants totalling over £34,300.
This allowed the business to create a new mezzanine and buy a robotic welding machine – creating four new jobs to take its staff numbers to 25.
Bill Boswell, CEO of parent company Sirius A Corporation, said: “The mezzanine has been a fantastic addition to the business. We have new offices and inspection space as well as room for the purchase of additional manufacturing equipment to accommodate a new order in the green energy and electric vehicle sectors.
“Altogether we have invested around £500,000 on this site over the last 12 months and without the investment we wouldn’t have secured the new orders – we have signed one long-term contract with a customer in the hydrogen sector until 2026.
“We are already running out of space and are planning to look at units up to 3,000 sq ft at nearby sites to use for storage.”
Coun Carolyn Robbins, RBC’s spokeswoman for finance, performance, legal and governance, said: “Working with CW Growth Hub, the council has been able to distribute nearly £1million in Additional Restrictions Grants to support borough businesses with ambitious plans for growth.
“The grants have helped companies expand operations, invest in new equipment and create jobs, supporting fantastic success stories such as PLP, which has quickly reaped the benefits of investment and now has plans for further expansion.”
PLP has also received £16,600 of grant support from the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business Programme as part of a £41,500 investment into energy efficiency improvements to the premises, which reduced the business’ annual heating bill by around £17,000 a year.
