Oxfordshire Business Support announces first winners of Elevate grant awards for small businesses

Small business from all over Oxfordshire are amongst the first to receive grants awarded by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP), as part of its ambitious part funded ERDF Elevate programme – providing support for ambitious start-up and growing enterprises.

The winners received grants ranging between £1,000 and £8,000 to enable activities which will help them to grow.

Heather Martin from OxLEP Business (OBS) said: “We were delighted to receive so many excellent applications for our Elevate grants. These first awards will help fund a wide range of activities from accessing expert marketing consultancy and branding, exhibition attendance, support for website design, social media activities and investment towards new equipment”

The businesses receiving grants are:

• SYLO: A Human Resources support business based in Thame
• AirBliss+: A South Oxfordshire company producing a new smart, air pollution mask.
• Aspire Oxford: A social enterprise from Oxford which creates work placements and employment for people facing barriers to getting meaningful jobs.
• The Rooflight Company: A Witney company manufacturing high quality rooflights, roof windows and skylights.
• The Classroom Design Company: A Watlington business, creating great environments to support teaching and learning.
• Scrubbingtons: A small business from Henley, which has created washing and hygiene products for young people.
• Cherwell Electrical: A Banbury business supplying everything professional electricians and engineers need.

There will be five more competitive rounds of Elevate grant funding up to summer 2019. The next deadline for applications is November 30^th.

Heather added: “These grants are important because they can help small businesses to grow at a time when it can be hard to finance investments in new skills, new products or professional help and support. We hope the grants will enable businesses to grow more quickly and ultimately create more jobs. Ultimately, we want to see small businesses successfully launch, grow and prosper. They are a very important part of our county’s economy.”

Oxfordshire has seen strong growth in the number of small businesses based in Oxfordshire – with over 40,000 new jobs being created in the county over the past five years. Between 2014 and 2016, Oxfordshire has seen the number of VAT-registered businesses in the county go up by 8.5%.”

Nigel Tipple – Chief Executive of OxLEP – said: “It is our role to champion and embrace business growth and innovation for the benefit of Oxfordshire – and we want to see the number of new businesses in the county rise even further.

“I am hopeful these Elevate grants will support even more people to make their small businesses a success.”

In addition to the grants, the Elevate programme is also offering 96 free workshops on a range of areas vital for business success and one-to-one support from experienced entrepreneurs.

Funding for the Elevate initiative comes from the European Regional Development Fund which has provided £2 million. Extra resources are provided by the UK government’s department of Business Energy, & Industry Strategy and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP).

You can find out more about Elevate grants, workshops and support at: www.oxfordshirebusinesssupport.co.uk