A Lancashire-based steelworks has created five new jobs and won new business contracts worth £300,000 after receiving mentoring support through Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub.
Fusion Team Ltd in Pendle provides steelwork for the construction industry, from balconies and flooring to full structural frameworks and its clients include Aldi, Costa Coffee and KFC. The team, which collectively has more than 50 years’ experience in the industry, wanted support to address its strategic growth plans after taking on bigger orders and moving to a second location in Sough, Earby.
That support came through Boost’s fully-funded Growth Mentoring programme delivered by Orvia. Boost; Lancashire's Business Growth Hub is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The mentoring provided Fusion with a fresh perspective and direction for its growth plans, including a focused strategy for core products and services, a review of ideas for diversification into new product areas, support to effectively build a marketing plan and a review of funding and cash flow.
This support enabled Fusion to review operational and financial aspects of the business, and concentrate on creating a competitive edge to differentiate itself in the market place. Since embarking on the mentoring programme Fusion Team Ltd has created five full time positions including a project manager, steel fabricator and three site operatives and has secured new business worth £300,000.
Robert Nash, director at Fusion Team Ltd, said: “The support which our mentor Martin Kemp provided was invaluable to us here at Fusion Team. He took time to understand our business, what we do and the challenges we regularly face and provided us with various scenarios and possible solutions for us to think about and implement.
“Having Martin on hand as a successful, well-connected sounding board gave us the luxury of a professional opinion and a fresh pair of eyes to offer us advice and guidance. He provided us with food for thought on each visit, dished out plenty of healthy challenges to get us thinking and never left us without adding value. It was a pleasure to have him working with us. “As a small business going through the ups and downs of trying to grow both our sales, profit and infrastructure while remaining profitable and in control, the assistance of both Martin and the Boost Growth Mentoring through Orvia proved extremely beneficial.
“I would be happy to recommend this scheme to anyone who is either just starting out in business or is already trading and looking to expand. The time and effort you invest in this partnership will definitely reap rewards.” Mentor, Martin Kemp, added: ““It was enjoyable working with the Fusion Team who were facing some familiar challenges within the construction sector.
They are a talented team and my role was to establish the right focus for the business and help them with some confidence issues, particularly when negotiating the right terms of business. The strong emphasis on the quality of service being provided by the business was not being reflected within the new business acquisition process. Their enthusiasm and talent will be rewarded and I would expect the business to go from strength to strength.”
Ann Holcroft, operations manager at Orvia, added: “We are thrilled that our mentoring support has already resulted in the team at Fusion taking significant steps to achieve their growth objectives. We continue to monitor the firm’s progress and are assisting the team as much as possible with ongoing development to achieve optimum growth.” Boost Business Lancashire has received £3.8m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.
For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding
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