The Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) & delivered by Oxford Innovation Services, has agreed a £500,000 deal with the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership. The MGP has already supported over 600 companies in other areas of the East Midlands, creating nearly 700 new jobs & completing 805 improvement projects across Leicestershire, Lincolnshire & Northamptonshire. It is now open to all manufacturing SMEs in Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire that employ less than 250 people or have a turnover below £36m.

Manufacturing firms can now access a dedicated Manufacturing Growth Manager, who will use the GROWTHMapper benchmarking tool to identify pain points within the business, before delivering grants that can help support a third of the total cost of the business improvement project up to a maximum £10,000.

The MGP supports the cost of working with an external expert/coach of your choice to implement pre-agreed improvement projects. It covers manufacturing efficiencies, strategic marketing, new product development & leadership & management. The scope of support & action plan provided will be specific to each applicant’s growth needs & will be discussed in detail with their dedicated Manufacturing Growth Manager. Applicants can select any consultant/coach of their choice, provided they can evidence & justify value for money in their selection.

Grant values & the percentage of grant funding support are specific to each business application. Typical projects value £5,000 with a minimum grant value of £1,000. Capital grants are available & will be considered for exceptional cases (subject to panel approval).

Running until 2023 the programme is expected to help more than 85 businesses & create 111 new jobs & 28 new product launches.

https://www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk/initiatives/manufacturing-growth-programme/