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Growing Business Fund Grant Panel Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 | 10.00am - 12.30pm
Constantine House (Room F01), Constantine Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DH
Present - Panel:
Mike Burrows (MB)
Jeanette Wheeler (JWh)
Martin Ince (MI)
Dominic Keen (DK)
Paul Stewart (PS)
Max Applin (MA)
Jackie Potter (JP)
Dr Sumathi Sundram
In Attendance:
Chris Dashper (CD)
Jason Middleton (JM)
Rose Joy (RJ)
Neil Sargent (NS)
Stuart Ager (SA)
Amanda Castell (AC)
Hayley Johnson (HJ)
Barry Henson (BH)
Vimmi Hayes (VH)
ECC (Chair)
Birketts (Vice Chair)
Martin Ince Communications
Britbots
Center Parcs
Max Applin Consulting
Gough Hotels
SGV Consultants Ltd
New Anglia LEP
New Anglia LEP
New Anglia LEP
Finance East
Finance East
Finance East
Finance East
Suffolk County Council
Suffolk County Council
Actions from the meeting: Wednesday, 04 July 2018
No actions identified.
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Welcome
MB welcomed everyone to the meeting.
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Apologies
Apologies were received from Julie West, New Anglia LEP, Sandy Ruddock, Scarlet and Mustard and
Daryl Griffiths (DG), Burnett Barker Solicitors
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Declarations of Interest and GDPR
No Declarations of Interest declared.
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Meeting Minutes: Panel Meeting Wednesday, 06 June 2018
Confirmed with no amendments.
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New Applications for Approval (3)
(a) Mirus Aircraft Seating Limited - Agreed to support
Approved Grant: £140,000 - De Minimus award
Condition applied - JM/CD to check Undertaking in Difficulty (State Aid regulations) eligibility
Seven full-time jobs to be created.
Action: Finance East to check Facility Letter still in place.
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(b) Vanilla Electronics Limited - Agreed to support
Approved Grant: £39,994
Two full-time jobs to be created.
(c) TBI Manufacturing Limited - Agreed to support
Approved Grant: £69,500
Four full-time jobs to be created
General discussion took place on salaries allocated for new full-time jobs.
Skills Hub - JM reported that the Growth Hub will be taking on two Skills Hub Advisers and would be
good policy going forward for applicants receiving grants to engage with the Growth Hub to access
advice on improving their skills workforce.
Action: JM to discuss with Nigel Best, Growth Hub Manager.
Small Grant Scheme Update
JM provided update. The Panel noted the award of thirteen Small Grant Scheme grants in the month of
June 2018, totalling £128,901 (Grants Awarded) - See Appendix 1.
JM reported there had been a slight fall-off in the number of Small Grant Scheme applications coming
through in July but that this was a fairly normal expectation for the summer period (July/August) and
anticipates the numbers will pick up during September/October.
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Funding and Jobs Creation
BH provided update. To date £1,250,000 paid out (this equates to 44-45% of this year’s budget).
A further £870,000 is due to be paid out in August.
Current spend on the Small Grant Scheme is just under £1.2 million.
With today’s approved grant totals (£249,494) the cumulative figure for GBF stands at nearly £500,000
over-committed and therefore may need to ask for further monies later on in the year.
.
Cumulative confirmed job creation now stands at 1,923 (up twenty-one on last month). With an additional
forty confirmed jobs for the Small Grant Scheme (jobs not a requirement) which is a bonus.
It was noted the overall total for all grant funding paid out to date was £22.2 million which equates to
approx. £110 million in investment.
ERDF Programme extension (for Small Grant Scheme, Growth Hub and Start-Ups) - JM reported
that the programme extension for a further three years was now in the final stages of approval by
MHCLG. The paperwork is with Panel members today, Wednesday, 01 August 2018, for a decision
before being put to the Management Committee on Monday, 06 August 2018.
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Updates on Approved Grants
BH provided update on the following grants.
1. Pipeshield (approved in October 2016)
2. ETP Card Processing (approved in August 2017; revised in September 2017)
3. TML Precision (approved January 2017)
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GBF Applications ‘Pipeline’
NS provided brief details of applications in progress. At present there are three applications, plus one
review, to be submitted to the August meeting. Of the three applications, one needs to be reviewed
urgently in view of machinery order deadline. Panel agreed that this grant application could be circulated
for voting within the next few working days.
Reminder - please send vote direct to NS.
No EOIs.
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It was noted that there are no potential grant applications for September at present and judgement will be
made nearer the date as to whether to hold the September meeting.
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PR and Marketing
JM provided an update. The new Growth Hub website is now live and is in the process of being updated.
Once the ERDF programme extension has been approved, the Growth Hub will be pro-actively targeting
high growth potential businesses to signpost to all grant/funding options - this to include Future50,
InvestEast, etc.
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Any Other Business
New Panel Members - MB reported there had been an article in the EDP on Tuesday, 31 July 2018
announcing the addition of three new private sector members on to the Panel.
The meeting closed at 11.45am.
Next Meeting: Meeting Room 3, Centrum, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UG
Wednesday, 05 September 2018 |10.00am - 12.30pm
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APPENDIX 1
New Anglia Small Grant Scheme projects approved in June 2018
Approved
Grant
Awarded (£)
My Sofa Covers Ltd.
2,000
Abate Ltd (2)
13,975
Richard Western Ltd.
2,372
Machined Precision Components Ltd.
1,475
R&S Budds Ltd.
9,468
Global Plant Genetics Ltd
1,705
TSI Structures Ltd
23,100
Asams Ltd
14,461
Screenworks Ltd
11,489
Cargo Secure Ltd
25,000
Canham Consulting Ltd
2,388
Brandon Body Centre
15,005
Lark Technology Group Ltd
6,464
Total - June 2018
128,901
