Swynnerton company in the spotlight at Growth Hub event

A Swynnerton business was in the spotlight at an event this week that celebrated the growth of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent economy.

The Growth Hub Showcase at the Tillington Hall Hotel in Stafford on Tuesday 12th April heard from Swynnerton company Orbital’s head of manufacturing.

Orbital, an international specialist in equipment for the gas industry, received £300,000 in gap funding from the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Fund to support its £2.7 million investment in expanded premises. The result is a state-of-the art manufacturing site, along with research labs and training facilities, which has helped the business create 80 new jobs in the past two years, Orbital’s head of manufacturing Andrew Wood told the event.

“We now have a UK centre of excellence that has placed Orbital and Staffordshire on the world map,” he said.

Local Enterprise Partnership board member Jonathan Dale told the event that businesses in Staffordshire should be shouting more loudly about their successes.

Mr Dale, who leads on business growth and innovation for the LEP, highlighted the range of help available to firms through its Growth Hub.

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This includes:

• the Business Helpline on 0300 111 8002, a source of free advice on all kinds of business queries
• the Growth Hub advisers, who provide more detailed face-to-face advice and mentoring for budding entrepreneurs and established firms alike
• and the Regional Growth Fund, administered by the LEP, which provides gap funding for Stoke and Staffordshire firms looking to expand.

Mr Dale said the efforts of these programmes had contributed to creating more than 20,000 new jobs across the area since the LEP was founded in 2011.

“Stoke and Staffordshire is on the move,” he said. “We have got the resources, we have got the facilities, we have got the skills and it is up to us to put it all together and deliver.”

Meanwhile Kyle Raffo, managing director of Tamworth web and multimedia design firm Expand Digital, paid tribute to Growth Hub mentor Richard Lloyd for his advice in helping grow the business. Mr Raffo, 22, founded Expand Digital when he was just 17. The firm now employs 12 people and has a £1.2 million annual turnover.

“It is great to have someone to bounce ideas off and help me identify opportunities,” he said.