Pendle News Room

The Programme is all about creating economic growth, helping local companies thrive, creating more job opportunities and supporting and bringing forward private sector investment.

Since 2014, it’s helped create 144 new businesses, supported 51 businesses to grow and helped to create 393 new jobs.

That’s almost £320,000 of investment in the borough which has already resulted in £2.842m of private sector investment.

Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, Leader of Pendle Council and economic development lead, said: “We’re really proud of our Gearing up for Growth Programme in Pendle.

“It was developed to really meet the needs of our business community and it’s been phenomenally successful.

“Over the past four years we’ve invested significantly in the scheme because it’s vital that we help our local economy to thrive and create more jobs.

"We’re doing all we can to keep those companies based here, support those who want to grow and encourage new ones to start.

"Previous grants have been taken up by a wide range of industries across Pendle, from aerospace to engineering and tourism.

“And they’ve ranged from new machinery, software and premises improvements to equipment to help start up new engineering, catering and security businesses.

"There’s a wide range of help available to businesses and we want to get this message out loud and clear!

“Contact us if you think we can help.”

Case study - Blackoak Surfacing Ltd

Blackoak Surfacing was founded by Thomas Jordan and Chris Whiteoak in August 2015 and Pendle Council helped to kick-start the company with a start-up grant.

This was followed up with a second grant in 2016 from the Programme’s Grants for Growth pot which meant the company could buy machinery.

And today the company has so far secured work which will see turnover increase by 200%, with contracts in the pipeline having the potential to increase turnover by 500%!

The company supplies resurfacing works on car parks, roads and footpaths to both private and public sector organisations.

It has a long list of clients across the UK, including Virgin Media, Lancashire County Council, and more recently Pendle Council

Thomas Jordan, Director, said “The grants from Pendle Council really got us going!

“It meant we could buy new IT equipment which enabled us to market our business and build our brand.

“With our latest grant we bought a roller. This enabled us to be more flexible for our clients and has reduced the risk element of hiring plant.

“It has also made the process more efficient, reducing the time it takes to complete a job and reducing waste through manual errors.”

Paul Collins, Business Support Team Leader, said: “Our Gearing up for Growth programme is a huge success and we’re thrilled that our grants and support are giving local companies a leading edge.

"Blackoak Surfacing is a fantastic example of how we can help our local businesses to grow and thrive!”

Over the coming months Gearing up for Growth will continue to offer:

• start-up grants to support businesses which are helping to diversify the local economy and become the employers of the future
• Grants for Growth which stimulate private sector investment and support growth in our existing companies and increase their competitiveness
• Pendle Business Class Hub which aims to prevent social background from predicting a young person’s success in the classroom and beyond
• Pendle Business Week which gives businesses the opportunity to attend events/workshops letting them know of the support available and training sessions.

For more information about Gearing up for Growth contact the Business Support Team, (01282) 661679 or email business.support@pendle.gov.uk