A company that designs and manufactures equipment used in heart surgery is to create 28 new jobs after a near £500,000 grant boost from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.
Chalice Medical, based in Worksop, has been in desperate need for a new, larger facility to fulfil its growth potential in the next three years.
And after securing £487,500 from D2N2’s Unlocking Investment for Growth programme, the company has now been able to press ahead with the £1.95m expansion project into new 25,000 sq ft premises, located at Manton Wood Enterprise Park, in Worksop.
The site is almost three times the size of its previous location in Coach Crescent, Shireoaks, from where they moved in the summer.
The company is also investing in new machinery to establish an in-house research and development and engineering workshop.
The project will see 28 new jobs created to add to the 49 people already employed full-time.
Philip Bousfield, of Chalice Medical, said: “While the grant process was very competitive and rigorous we are very pleased to have been successful in getting this grant which will enable our expansion and enhance our exporting capabilities.
“We are using this opportunity to develop new ways to support critically ill patients and push back the boundaries of intensive care and extracorporeal support.”
Chalice Medical has been manufacturing cardiac surgery equipment since 2000 at its Worksop base and its range of products has expanded from surgical instruments and disposable products to a complete range heart/lung machines, including devices to support critically ill patients in intensive care.
It is the only company in the UK making this type of equipment and one of only a handful of companies in the world that make special long term versions of the devices.
David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2, said: “Without this significant grant funding from D2N2, this project would not have gone ahead.
“This business presented is an innovative, well-managed enterprise and this move enables the business to make a quantum leap potentially, adding valuable employment opportunities in north Nottinghamshire as well as helping secure the future of the 49 existing jobs.
“This is the largest grant awarded from our UI4G programme but it is evident in the number of jobs it will help create that the funding will make a tremendous difference to a project that otherwise might not have come to fruition.”
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 its 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: Visit www.d2n2lep.org/UI4G; Call 01332 826366; Email UI4G@embltd.co.uk
