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Growing Business Fund Grant Panel Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)
Wednesday, 06 June 2021 | 10.00am - 12.30pm
Held via conference call on Microsoft Teams
Present - Panel:
Mike Burrows (MB)
Martin Ince (MI)
Jackie Potter (JP)
Dominic Keen (DK)
Daryl Griffiths (DG)
Dr Sumathi Sundram (SS)
Kathy Atkinson (KA)
In attendance:
Julie West (JW)
Jason Middleton (JM)
Allen Hall (AH)
Neil Sargent (NS)
Beverly Davies (BD)
Guy Gibson (GG)
(Chair)
Martin Ince Communications
Micropress Limited
Britbots
Burnett Barker Solicitors
S&V Consultants Limited
Kettle Foods Limited
New Anglia LEP
New Anglia LEP
Finance East
Finance East
Suffolk County Council
Suffolk County Council
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Welcome and Introductions
MB welcomed members. Beverley Davies, replacement for Barry Henson, Suffolk County Council, joined
the meeting for the first time. Meeting quorate.
2
Not present on telecon call
Apologies received: Chris Dashper, New Anglia LEP; Rose Joy, New Anglia LEP; Amanda Castell,
Finance East and Paul Stewart, Center Parcs
3
Terms of Reference (ToR)
Copy of Terms of Reference circulated with meeting papers, for review and comment at the meeting.
JW informed the Panel that New Anglia LEP is undertaking a review of responsibilities under the Public
Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and a paragraph is to be added to all meeting ToR held by New Anglia LEP.
JW referenced the Growing Business Fund ToR, where the following paragraph has been included, under
the section ‘Decision Making Process’:
The Growing Business Fund Panel will consider their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality
Duty (PSED) as outlined in the New Anglia LEP Assurance Framework and will incorporate equality
considerations into all decisions.
JW requested that going forward, all GBF Panel members are mindful when making their decisions.
General discussion took place on the content of the ToR. The GBF Panel accepts, and acknowledges,
the addition to the ToR.
Action: JW to circulate PSED advice note and copy of training presentation that the New
Anglia LEP staff have undertaken.
4
Declarations of Interest and GDPR
None declared.
5
Meeting Minutes: Panel Meeting held on Wednesday, 05 May 2021
Meeting notes approved with minor amendment.
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New Applications for Approval (2)
(1) The Essentials Company - Agreed to support.
Local Authority of Project - Breckland
£28,369 - GBER
Three new part-time jobs to be created.
AC submitted the grant application and NS presented the application on behalf of AC.
NS provided background information on the grant application and general discussion took place. Panel
noted evidence of match funding has been provided. A straightforward application and a good fit for
PSED.
(2) WECO Engineering Limited - Agreed to support.
Local Authority of Project - Breckland
£60,000 - GBER
Three new full-time jobs to be created.
NS provided background information on the grant application, with reference made to a previous
submission in February 2019, where grant approval was subject to confirmation of Planning Permission.
NS confirmed that Planning Permission is now approved and a copy of the approval is on file. Issue
regarding ownership of the land raised. General discussion took place.
Conditions of Offer applied: (a) Offer Letter to be addressed jointly to both companies, WECO
Engineering Limited (Applicant) and WECO Holdings Limited and (b) all ‘leasehold improvements’ to
appear in WECO Engineering Limited trading balance sheet as proof of spend.
Noted that JW will feedback Panel comments to the Growth Hub Adviser handling the application to take
forward with WECO Engineering Limited during a follow up visit.
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Small Grant Scheme (SGS) | Growth Through Innovation Fund (GTIF) Updates
Updates not provided.
Action: SGS and GTIF statistics to be circulated to Panel members when available.
8
Funding, Updates and Jobs Creation
Lockwood Packaging - JW provided an update. Lockwood Packaging have now responded to Finance
East and have been given a further four weeks to complete the necessary paperwork.
BD provided updates on funding and job creation.
Job’s creation - 95 for SGS and 806 for GBF so 901 in total to date.
GBF budget - had an initial budget of £2.15m, from which there was an overspend from last year, so
with today’s grant approvals, this leaves a total of £1,441,960.66 unallocated.
Panel noted that the Suffolk County Council team are concentrating on getting the BR&R Claims paid so
unfortunately there is a slight backlog of GBF Claims that need actively progressing.
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GBF Applications ‘Pipeline’
Finance East have potential applications to bring to Panel but all are still in the early stages, of which
hopeful of two/three applications going to the July Panel.
JW reported the Growth Hub have a strong pipeline.
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PR and Marketing
JW provided update. Marketing ongoing, with emphasis on ‘pushing out’ case studies. As and when the
Panel feel there is a need to promote GBF, JW will raise a case study for promotion.
MB referenced the local success of The Two Magpies Bakery who have recently received GBF support.
Action: JW to send the link to the story about the expansion of the Two Magpies Bakery
with support from our Growing Business Fund
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Any Other Business
Future meetings - possibility of face-to-face meeting raised. JM reported the New Anglia LEP policy for
meetings is to remain as ‘virtual’ meetings for the foreseeable future but will let the Panel know if this
policy changes and it is felt appropriate to hold a face-to-face meeting; albeit this may not necessarily be
on a regular basis.
The meeting closed at 11:10am.
Meeting via conference call on Microsoft Teams
Wednesday, 07 July 2021 | 10.00am - 12.30pm
