Huntingdonshire businesses are being urged to take advantage of grants to enable growth.

The Huntingdonshire Manufacturing Association (HMA) is hosting a free Funding For Growth session on Wednesday, January 22, to provide information on how to get your hands on free Government cash.

The breakfast event, at Alconbury Weald Enterprise Zone, will include talks from Jenny Wilton, of the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), on matched funding for manufacturing SMEs.

Stuart Gibbons, chairman of HMA and managing director of Le Mark, said: “Funding 4 Growth is a Government initiative that to quote the phrase ‘does exactly what it says on the can’ offering match funded support for manufacturers and businesses that are keen to grow.

“I have often found that there is a cynicism when it comes to the concept Government or European funding, sometimes the first question I hear is ‘What is the catch?’

“The offer here is made clear, there is no catch! If you’re an SME business looking for a simple straightforward grant where you can show a quantifiable action to improve your business efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and help your business to both invest and grow then this will be right for you.”

He added: “From my own company’s stance, at Le Mark knew that to remain competitive and expand both our UK and export sales. We needed to invest in new technology equipment that would facilitate continued growth of our conversion processes.

“With the support of the Grants4Growth broker, we were able to submit an application that showed how new equipment and investment would reduce the environmental impact on our operations and both sustain and create jobs.

“As Chairman of the Huntingdonshire Manufacturer Association I will only endorse a scheme that I personally 100 per cent believe in and where possible have tested myself.

“I can only encourage my manufacturing and business colleagues to seriously consider this excellent support and discuss their future investment plans with the Grants4Growth broker.

“There are not many businesses I would image that would turn down the offer of ‘free money’”.

Ms Wilton will say how easy it is to get access to the funded support available from the MAS for business growth, including match funding for specific expert help and product development activities.

Kurt Scheepers, a business broker for Grants 4 Growth, will speak about matched funding for capital expenditure leading to increased resource efficiency.

Also speaking will be Carole Randall of Low Carbon Keep. She will explain the programme as well as show how businesses can get matched funded support to innovate and grow through university partnerships and knowledge transfers.

INFORMATION: Starts 8am. For more details, contact Louise Lee by emailing Louise@saundersandlee.com, call 0203 326 7315 or visit www.huntingdonshiremanuafcturersassociation.co.uk.

To book visit http://tinyurl.com/Fundingforgrowth.