£4.3million fund brings new jobs in Express & Star backed project

A second wave of the acclaimed Green Shoots Fund, which has been praised by the Prime Minister and Chancellor, is to be tripled in size with grants on offer up to £150,000.

The scheme has been handing out £1.4 million to businesses in the form of grants of up to £50,000.

But it has been so successful, the government's Regional Growth Fund is to make even more available, with the aim of creating 400 jobs.

The Green Shoots Fund has been operated by the Express & Star in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton.

But the new Green Shoots Plus will also include our sister paper the Shropshire Star. It will continue to cover the Black Country but will also be extended to Stafford, where the university recently opened a campus in the Shire Hall, as well as Telford & Wrekin and the Shropshire county and Herefordshire.

Employers will be able to use the fund to help them expand their business, buy new equipment or take on new trade as long as it means new jobs.

Companies can bid for a maximum of 33 per cent of the total project costs from Green Shoots.

It means the project will bring in a further £8m of private investment to the West Midlands.

Applications will open in the spring and the fund will run for two years. Bids will continue to be handled by the Wolverhampton Business Solutions Centre on the city's science park but there will also be centres set up in the other counties.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The Black Country is the engine room of Britain; it has a proud tradition of highly skilled manufacturing that is respected all over the world. The continued success of scores of small firms in the area is a crucial part of the government's long term economic plan to build a stronger, healthier economy and a secure future for Britain.

"I'm proud that the efforts of Black Country manufacturing businesses are being supported and furthered by the work of the Green Shoots Fund being delivered by the Express & Star and University of Wolverhampton. Supporting programmes like this, as well as sticking to our plan of backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes, will allow us to go on creating more jobs for people in the Black Country, giving more people the security of a regular pay cheque."

Chancellor George Osborne added: "We have announced £60m in regional growth funding across the Midlands but not all small and medium-sized businesses will feel they can apply to the national government.

"That is why we work with the University of Wolverhampton and the Express & Star and Shropshire Star to help distribute this money. This is one of the really exciting things we are doing. What is this all about? It is about that we don't put all our eggs in one basket in the City of London, and we grow our economy across the country, backing businesses that create jobs and give young people a real opportunity."

Jeremy Lefroy, MP for Stafford, said: "I am thrilled that this is being extended into Stafford. It is another example of how the University of Wolverhampton's move into Stafford's Shire Hall has been of enormous benefit."

The University of Wolverhampton's Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Oakes said: "We're extremely delighted by this. It represents the faith the government has shown in the university and the West Midlands in terms of economic regeneration.

"We want to make it easier for businesses to be able to access funding. We will help them work their proposals up." The fund will continue to seek bids in advanced and high value manufacturing. But it will also be open to range of businesses, including in the hotel, restaurant and leisure trade among many others.

Professor Oakes said a decision-making group, including business leaders from the Black Country, would continue with the new fund. He said: "These are owners of small businesses in the region. They know the problems small businesses face."

Express & Star editor Keith Harrison said the fund showed the newspaper's commitment to the West Midlands. "We report every day on the great work being done to help this engine room of Britain to do what it does best.

"It is fantastic to be actively involved in a project that is making such a difference not just to the many excellent businesses that the Green Shoots Fund has helped but also the people who have found a new career as a result."

For details see www.wolverhamptonbsc.com/greenshoots