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Growing Business Fund Grant Panel Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)
Wednesday, 06 October 2021 | 10.00am - 12.30pm
Held via conference call on Microsoft Teams
Present – Panel
Mike Burrows (MB)
Daryl Griffiths (DG)
Paul Stewart (PS)
Jackie Potter (JP)
Kathy Atkinson (KA)
Dr Sumathi Sundam (SS)
In attendance
Neil Sargent (NS)
Amanda Castell (AC)
Guy Gibson (GG)
Julie West (JW)
Jason Middleton (JM)
Rose Joy (RJ)
Chair
Burnett, Barker Solicitors
Center Parcs
Micropress Limited
Kettle Foods Limited
S&V Consultants Limited
Finance East
Finance East
Suffolk County Council
New Anglia LEP
New Anglia LEP
New Anglia LEP
1
Welcome and Introductions
MB welcomed members. Meeting quorate.
2
Not present on telecon call
Apologies received: Beverly Davies, Suffolk County Council; Allen Hall, Finance East;
Chris Daspher, New Anglia LEP; Martin Ince, Martin Ince Communications; Dominic Keen, Britbots;
3
Declarations of Interest and GDPR
None declared.
4
Meeting Minutes: Panel Meeting held on Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Meeting notes approved and all Actions completed.
5
New Applications for Approval (1)
(1) Thompson Packaging Limited - Agreed to support
Local Authority of business - Norwich City Council
£208,727 - GBER
Eleven new full-time jobs and one part-time job to be created
NS provided background information to the grant application. The Panel noted Covid had benefited
the business, by creating a strong demand for their products. The proposed purchase of the new
building will increase efficiency and output, to meet this increased demand. General discussion took
place.
Query was raised on the percentage allocated to the fixed assets and building costs in the
expenditure breakdown.
Recommendation: NS to check the schedule of costs in the expenditure breakdown and revise
grant value accordingly.
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The Panel noted that the proposed purchase by Thomson Packaging Limited is a building purchase
from Lifeline24, which was purchased in 2019, with the aid of a GBF grant, therefore the sale will
trigger a clawback from Lifeline24, which will be returned to the GBF pot.
Action: JM to get an update on Lifeline24 and circulate to the Panel in due course.
Comment was made on the relatively low salaries being offered and the timescale for appointments
being a little longer than preferred. With GBF coming to an end, query was raised on the monitoring
of job creation. JW confirmed that Suffolk County Council will continue to monitor expenditure, and
job creation, going forward so that the companies reach their contractual responsibility. General
discussion took place on salary costs in general.
The Panel noted that one of the positions was for a Trainee Engineer and KA pointed out that the
Government Apprenticeship Scheme was being extended and that this scheme may be an
opportunity for Thompson Packing to explore.
Recommendation: JW to request a visit to Thomson Packaging Limited by a Growth Hub Skills
Adviser.
A good local business, in a LEP priority sector and a good fit for the GBF scheme.
6
Small Grant Scheme (SGS) | Growth Through Innovation Fund (GTIF) Updates
JM shared the LEP weekly grants statistics sheet (published every Monday morning) on screen to
give the Panel an indication of grant status. Key points highlighted.
Small Grant Scheme (SGS) - the SGS scheme is almost complete, with only a very small amount of
funding left to be allocated.
Project Change Request (PCR) - the PCR submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government (MHCLG) requesting additional funding to take the Business Growth Programme
through to June 2023 has been approved. This extension will ensure the continuation of the Growth
Hub and SGS until the end of June 2023. Currently awaiting written contractual agreement from
MHCLG.
Growth Through Innovation (GTI) - JM provided update.
Continues to be slow, with one application currently in progress. Seen some slippage on the GTI
scheme due to underspend. The Scheme is now halfway through delivery, but only 25% through the
actual spend. Hoping to use some of the underspend to recruit a dedicated Growth Hub Adviser
which should have a big impact on applications coming through for the scheme.
Project Change Request (PCR) – propose to submit a PCR to MHCLG next month requesting a
time extension to the end of March 2023, with final completion date of the end of June 2023.
7
Funding, Updates and Jobs Creation
JM provided update.
Business Resilience & Recovery (BR&R) - scheme now closed on the website; nearly complete.
East Suffolk - Plan for the Future Grants (ESPFG) - this is a new scheme being run by East
Suffolk - details outlined.
General discussion took place on grant schemes.
Job Creation: Total jobs created to date (as of 20 September 2021) is 2528.
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GBF Applications ‘Pipeline’
Finance East have eleven potential applications at various stages and hopeful of four/five
applications being brought to the November meeting. The Panel noted that there are enough
applications currently in discussion to use up all the remaining GBF budget. The Growth Hub are
managing expectations.
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Future replacement of the GBF scheme - this is being monitored and currently awaiting more
information and as soon as anything is announced this information will be shared with the Panel.
Observation made that the GBF scheme is one of the LEP’s most successful grant schemes and it
would be a shame to lose the skill and expertise that currently sits within the GBF Panel.
9
PR and Marketing
JW provided update. Currently promoting cases studies across all the grant schemes. Noted that as
GBF and SGS are coming to an end these schemes are not being actively promoted.
10
Any Other Business
Future meetings - The Panel noted that Center Parcs will be hosting the November GBF meeting.
The meeting closed at 10.48am.
Meeting to be held at Center Parcs
Wednesday, 03 November 2021 | 10.00am - 12.30pm
