The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire September 2014 Edition | Page 6

BUSINESS NEWS

GATEWAY FOR GROWTH ALLOCATE £750,000 TO SUPPORT
WILTSHIRE BUSINESSES
The Gateway for Growth programme has allocated a third round of funding to help businesses
in Wiltshire grow and reach their commercial potential. An expert panel considered the latest
applications from small and medium sized enterprises in Wiltshire,where local businesses were
awarded grants, taking the total amount of funding allocated to £750,000.
The third round of grants, which uses
funding secured by the Swindon and
Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, is
expected to create up to 63 sustainable
jobs, supporting improvement projects
worth £1.2 million in Swindon and
Wiltshire.
OATS, based in Swindon, supply
information and productivity solutions for
oil companies around the world including
Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP Castrol. A grant
of £31k will aid the development of a new
front-end tool that gives clients a powerful
methodology for significant product
placement, analysis and marketing
objectives creating seven jobs.
Roger Lewis Furniture of Trowbridge
has received a grant of £5k to support
the purchase of machinery to improve
production speed and capacity. It

will also help improve their research
and development capabilities and
internationalise their website to appeal to
new markets and create eight new jobs.
Other companies benefiting from
grants include:
• Westbury-based Prezola received

£50k to enhance their digital
presence
• Apsley Precision Engineering Ltd
received a grant for £33k to

acquire further machinery to

expand their business and create

four new jobs
• ISN were awarded £29k to support

their plans to create a leading

Network Operations Centre
• Loadpoint Ltd received £50k

to increase its sub-contract

cutting capacity

The countdown to The
South West Expo
Time is now ticking ahead of the South West
Expo taking place on Thursday 18 September
at Steam Museum, Swindon.
The business show has attracted a number
of exhibitors from start-ups to large
organisations including, Companies House,
Hilton Hotels & Resorts, the Intellectual
Property Office, Total Guide To, Wessex
Chambers of Commerce, Thames Valley
Chamber of Commerce, QA Apprenticeships,
Monahans Accountants and Swindon Link
Magazine to name a few.
The event is sponsored by Excalibur
Communications and CEO James Phipps is
one of the headline speakers on the day. He
will address key areas for business success
including culture, strategy, sales, marketing,
finance and recruitment.
Other keynote speakers include Brad
Burton - the UK’s No 1 motivational speaker,
Jackie Chappell - 1st Woman CEO of British
Rail, Neil Clough - 2013 BBC Final Five
Apprentice Star and Russell Cook talking
about the positive impact of business
continuity.
A number of industry leading workshops
will also be held throughout the day
including LinkedIn Bootcamp, Email

6

THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2014

Marketing, Cloud Accounting, Outstanding
Branding and Companies House sessions.
The event is free to attend, but registration
is essential. Attendees receive a number of
incentives too including two free tickets to
Newbury Racecourse worth £50 and a free
ticket to watch a Swindon Town FC game.
South West Expo offers the ultimate
opportunity to network for your company
with speed networking opportunities
throughout the day, as well as the
opportunity to meet with other registrants
and exhibitors.
The Business Exchange will be there on
the day, visit us on stand 43 to meet the
team, find out more about the magazine and
be in with a chance to win an advertising
campaign worth £500.
To find out more about the event and to
register visit: www.southwestexpo.co.uk

• Torchlight Solutions secured £45k to
improve their service offering
• Guild Anderson will use their grant

of £11k to upgrade their design
software
• Southern Tank Services Ltd have an
ambitious plan to increase sales as a

result of their £20k award

Isobel Brown, Director at the Swindon and
Wiltshire LEP, said, “We’re delighted to
see that funding secured by the Swindon
and Wiltshire LEP is continuing to support
the growth plans of local businesses.
The grants will help these successful
businesses to reach their full potential,
creating new jobs in our LEP area and
benefiting the local economy”.
“The ongoing business support from
Wessex Chambers of Commerce, Business

West, UKTI, Wil