Member Article

Sheffield independent engineering firm creates 11 jobs after £82k LEP funding

An independent engineering firm is set to recruit 11 new members of staff, and safeguard a further three jobs, thanks to a grant from the Sheffield City Region LEP.

The company is fighting back after being badly affected by the recession, and has now secured £82k of funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership Regional Growth Fund.

Mayflower Engineering Ltd, based in Coleridge Road, Darnall, was established in 1974 and currently employs 72 members of staff, who deal with all aspects of the engineering business from design through to installation.

That money will cover 20% of the cost of two vital new pieces of equipment – a plasma and flame cutter for cutting through mild steel, and a press brake for bending pieces of steel or aluminium.

The new cutting machine will be between three and 10 times faster than the current machine, while the new press brake will be able to bend thinner materials much more accurately.

Councillor Leigh Bramall, Sheffield City Council’s cabinet member for business, skills and development, said that the expansion of Mayflower Engineering was not only good news for the company, but for the city.

He said: “Creating new jobs in our city is always good news, but it is particularly heartening to hear that an independent steel firm is using the funding available to them to keep up to date with the latest advances in technology.”

Kevan Bingham, managing director of Mayflower Engineering, said: “Like many small, independent firms, we were hit hard by the recession, and plans that we had in place for growth have had to be adapted and rethought as a result.

“Although the company is now well on the way to recovery, what we badly need now is the money to enable us to put into place our new and innovative ideas, in order to modernise and expand even further.

“This grant funding from the LEP will enable us to implement new ideas that have been formulated over the course of this year and also, most importantly, enable us not only to save existing jobs but create new ones.”

James Newman, chairman of the Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “It is great news that Mayflower Engineering Ltd will be able to substantially upgrade its equipment and also recruit new staff thanks to our grant funding.

“The LEP bid for, and secured this funding on a competitive basis. Since then we have set about securing the maximum value for public money, and in doing so, supporting in as many companies as possible to invest and grow.”

The funding has come from the LEP’s “Unlocking Business Investment” programme, which has seen £32 million allocated to the city region in central Government funding.

Around £29 million of the fund has already been allocated, while £3 million is still available to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that plan to create sustainable, private sector employment in the Sheffield City Region.

The news comes after it was announced that the Sheffield City Region has secured a £320 million Growth Deal from the Government, which is expected to create more than 28,000 jobs and training for 40,000 people.

This is the fifth-largest sum to be secured of the 39 LEPs within the country.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .