AS Design is on the cusp of expansion, thanks to help from Cumbria Business Growth Hub.
Adam Ross set up the business in 2008, which for the last 10 years has been based at Brewery Yard Industrial Estate in Cleator Moor.
It supplies signs, vehicle graphics, banners, business cards and flyers, as well as promotional items such as branded mugs, pens, key rings and mouse mats.
Adam said: “We needed a new website and contacted the Growth Hub at the end of 2019 to see what funding was available.”
The initial approach paid off handsomely.
Growth Hub adviser Paul Crooks was assigned to work with AS Design.
He suggested that it take advantage of the Growth Hub’s Subsidy Scheme, which covers 40 per cent of the cost – up to a maximum of £4,000 – of buying in specialist advice and consultancy.
This enabled AS Design to recover £960 of the cost of a new website, which is being built by Keswick Computer Solutions and is due to go live in 2020.
The Subsidy Scheme also provided a £158 grant towards the cost of Adam attending a refresher course on vehicle wrapping.
The company is in the process of applying for another grant to help fund an extension to its premises.
Adam said: “We have to expand because we were chock-a-block last year and we’re expecting the new website to generate even more work.
“We’d gone through planning, had the finance in place and were about to start digging the foundations when Paul told us we might be eligible for a grant.
“Applying for the grant has delayed us by four to six months but has allowed us to be more ambitious. It’s turned a £100,000 project into a £140,000 project.”
The business employs four full-time and two part-time staff but those numbers are set to rise when the extension is finished.
Adam added: “We’re looking to take on a couple of extra employees at least.
“Working with the Growth Hub has been a very positive experience. Paul was great. He looked to see what was holding us back and help us progress.
“He also put us on to couple of potential customers and helped us plan a marketing campaign for when the new website is ready.”
To find out how Cumbria Business Growth Hub can help your business, visit the Growth Hub website or call us on 0844 257 84 50.
The funding that supports the Growth Hub comes from a range of sources including Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, the European Regional Development Fund, Sellafield Ltd., Carlisle City Council, South Lakeland District Council, Penrith Industrial BID and Cumbria LEP. The Growth Hub is receiving up to £2,528,767 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information click here.