Formby business - The Christmas Decorators are awarded funding by LEP

LEP (Liverpool Enterprise Partnership) hails millions of pounds of new investment and the creation of hundreds of new jobs. Under the scheme, grants ranging between £10,000 and £1m have been awarded to 53 firms from around the city region

Multimesh in St Helens, from left, general manager Steve Watson, Robert Hough, Liverpool City Region LEP and Cllr Barry Grundelward. Picture by Gareth Jones

The latest round of Liverpool city region’s Business Growth Grant programme has helped create 350 new jobs and attract £55m of private sector investment, according to figures released today. In addition, another 550 existing jobs have been safeguarded by the £10m government-backed business investment programme, with the promise of more jobs growth to come in the future.

Part of the Government’s £2.85bn Regional Growth Fund (RGF) initiative, the Business Growth Grant programme is administered locally by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Under the scheme, grants ranging between £10,000 and £1m have been awarded to 53 firms from around the city region, on condition that they create new jobs locally. The sums equate to an average of £188,000 per firm. Recipients of Round 3 funding include Formby based The Christmas Decorators and St Helens based Multimesh UK, which received £16,000 and £200,000 respectively.

LEP chairman Robert Hough said: “The essential element of Growth Grant bids was that they should either secure or generate new jobs in the city region. Supplementary to that objective is to support local businesses to make significant investment decisions which will sustain their growth for the coming months and years.

“With the completion of the programme, we can see the evidence from the effort which has been put in and the effect the programme has had on the operations of the businesses.

“The LEP exists to support business and to champion their needs. It is therefore very pleasing to report such strong direct proof the programme has had for our local businesses.”

It is hoped that up to 700 more jobs will be created over the next two years as businesses supported by Round 3 funding continue to grow.

Round 3 closed last March. A fourth round of funding worth £5m is expected to be fully invested in city region firms by the end of October.

Business Growth Grants are available to fund between 10% and 20% of a project and could include capital expenditure such as plant, equipment, buildings and technology.

The Christmas Decorators used its grant to recruit two additional staff and break into new markets, including in Bethlehem. Multimesh UK’s grant contributed to a £1.2m investment in machinery used to make its wiremesh products and the creation of 15 jobs.

Case study: The Christmas Decorators

Established in 2004, The Christmas Decorators – as the name suggests – manufactures, supplies and installs commercial and domestic festive decorations across the UK and, increasingly, internationally.

With a franchise model, the North West patch is operated by husband and wife team Paul and Victoria Lally from their base in Formby.

A £16,000 Business Growth Grant has helped the company tweak its business model taking it into new markets and, while Christmas will always be its focus, it now provides a year-round service.

Paul explains how the business has developed. He said: “2011 was something of a watershed for the company. We were asked to demonstrate our proposals one evening at Cheshire Oaks in Ellesmere Port. The key decision maker had flown in especially to run the rule over what we could do. That’s how we found ourselves in an empty shopping centre in the early hours of a spring morning getting a commission to decorate a dozen shopping centres across Europe.

“Our domestic customer list now includes footballing royalty, Hollywood royalty and actual royalty while commercial customers take us around the world with a key focus on Dubai and a series of festivals throughout the year.

“The grant has allowed us to take on two full time staff. As a seasonal business, payroll outgoings between February and October are stresses the business cannot tolerate. But the grant has allowed us the breathing room to establish a new part of the company delivering events management services for weddings and other non-seasonal events.

“The focus will always be on the festive period but having the expertise in-house all year round means the stress of having to find key staff on temporary contracts is somewhat reduced.”

The company has scored some notable successes in recent years – including providing the decorations for the town of Bethlehem – but it remains a fixture in the local community providing services to Southport town centre and other retail centres around Sefton.