WIREDGOV

The £9m EU-backed North West Wales Local Investment Fund (LIF) has already helped some 450 businesses and created over 490 jobs in Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy and Denbighshire.

Led by the Isle of Anglesey County Council in collaboration with other local authorities in the region, the extra £500,000 will enable more local businesses to benefit from the Fund as they seek to grow and create further local job opportunities.

Finance Minister Jane Hutt said:

"I am pleased to see the positive impact EU Funds are having on businesses. To date, EU projects in North Wales alone have helped create over 5,000 jobs (gross), assisted 3,400 enterprises and created over 1,900 enterprises. This is another example of how EU Funds can help businesses achieve commercial success and create employment opportunities."

Whilst in Anglesey, the Finance Minister will meet with Môn Maintenance Services - a company benefiting from LIF. The company was set up after Andrew Samuel, Wayne Allman, Stephen Evans and Andrew Williams lost their jobs at Anglesey Aluminium.  Recognising that many other companies were cutting back on their own maintenance teams, Andrew and his colleagues set up Môn Maintenance Services to offer mechanical and electrical fitting and associated services.

Director Andrew Samuel said:

"LIF support enabled us to equip our workshop with tools and machinery so we could start competing for business – especially big contracts - more quickly. It also enabled us to apply for two vital accreditations. Thanks to the newly purchased state-of-the-art equipment, the company achieved ISO 9001 accreditation after just two months of trading, so we could then apply for contracts in the nuclear industry. We also applied for the Construction Industry Health and Safety accreditation - an essential requirement for securing contracts with local authorities, so the funding has significantly improved the company’s business potential."

Anglesey’s Economic portfolio holder, Cllr Aled Morris Jones, welcomed news of the extra funding. Cllr Jones said:

"The LIF scheme is designed to develop the local economy by stimulating business activity. It has already provided funding totalling £2m and helped some 450 businesses across the region since its introduction in 2009. This new additional funding will be put to good use and help many more small and medium sized enterprises to expand, creating growth and employment across North West Wales."

The LIF is a flexible business support scheme which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Welsh Government. It aims to assist the growth and expansion of local businesses (including, but not limited to high growth sectors), by providing a discretionary focused financial support package for new and existing businesses.

The scheme offers funding of up to 40% on eligible capital expenditure for projects, with awards offered of between £1,000 and £5,000. Consideration can be given to award funding up to £9,999 where there is evidence of job creation within the project.

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