A £95,000 grant is helping a Nottinghamshire firm invest in state-of-the-art machinery to create six new jobs.
JKP Tins manufactures tin plate components and the grant from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership has helped get the £475,000 project off the ground.
It has seen a second sheet feed metal press purchased, so the Sutton-in-Ashfield firm can switch production between two machines, as well as extend its premises in Hamilton Road.
The grant is from D2N2’s Unlocking Investment for Growth fund, which is supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.
JKP is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of tin plate lids and ends to the packaging industry.
The company’s principle end markets are powdered foods, wines and spirits. They also make components for blue chip food manufacturers who make up their own tins, and are the major producer of shoe polish tins in the UK.
Jason Powell, MD of JKP Tins, said: “The D2N2 grant made all the difference and gave us the confidence to go ahead with this capital investment which in turn has given major customers the confidence to expand their purchases from us. Working with the D2N2 team has been a great pleasure.”
David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2, said: “This is an established manufacturer with an excellent reputation in this market.
“They now have a chance to expand and create jobs but the fact is without this grant funding, the company’s growth would have been considerably slowed and these jobs would not have come to fruition at this stage.”
D2N2 – the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – secured £5m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, topped up further by the European Regional Development Fund, to help businesses grow through this Unlocking Investment for Growth (UI4G) programme.
Since launching in 2013, the programme has approved £3.2 million in grant funding which will create more than 300 jobs. Further applications at an advanced stage are requesting in excess of £1.6m and expect to create an additional 200 jobs.
But it is a time-bound opportunity with capital projects having to be completed by March 2015.
The programme will provide a grant in support of capital investment projects with a minimum overall project value of £200,000. In exceptional circumstances up to £500,000 of grant funding is available for projects that can demonstrate real potential to create new jobs.
For more information, go to www.d2n2lep.org/UI4G, or call 01332 826366 or email UI4G@embltd.co.uk
