emda's
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14 February 2005 |
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emda initiatives help hi-tech firm flourish |
An award winning company which is developing cutting-edge technology
has moved into the most enterprising place in Britain –
after receiving funding of almost £300,000 through East
Midlands Development Agency (emda) supported initiatives.
Imhotep Ltd has moved into Sherwood Energy Village, an eco-friendly
development built on the former colliery site in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire,
that was supported by emda and which was this month crowned
enterprise capital of Britain by Chancellor Gordon Brown.
The move marks the latest in a line of emda initiatives
that Imhotep has benefited from in the last year. In fact, the
business has pitched for finance, has secured investment, will
receive a grant and has won a cash award to help with research,
all through schemes linked with the development agency.
Run by husband and wife team Jonathan and Amanda Wilcox, the
company will receive a £30,000 investment from emda’s
Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE) scheme, which
helps businesses in deprived areas of the region grow.
Catapult Venture Managers, managers of the East Midlands Regional
Venture Capital Fund, have also invested £250,000 in the
company. Imhotep met Catapult at the Connect Midlands Springboard
event in Birmingham, an event that is sponsored by emda.
And, as winners of the Pot of Gold competition, funded by the
Development Agency and the Environmental Industries Forum, Imhotep
has also received a £15,000 prize. The competition cash
can be spent on a research project involving a local university
that will benefit the winning company.
Imhotep, previously based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has
developed thermoplastic composite profiles which look and feel
like normal plastics but have the performance of fibreglass and
carbon fibre composites. Their Imhotep process is already being
used in the making of the worlds lightest bicycle wheel.
emda’s Business Investment Appraisal Manager Neale
Ryan believes Imhotep is a good example of the successful and
forward thinking small and medium enterprises that continue to
benefit from emda initiatives.
Mr Ryan said: “Imhotep is a hi-tech and potentially high
growth business. The support they have received from emda
and Catapult will enable them to successfully harness the potential
of the world-class technology they have successfully developed.
This is a great example of emda supported initiatives
working together to assist business growth”.
ends
For media enquiries please contact the emda press office: Jane
Upton on 0115 9471773, Matt Genever on 0115 9888375 or Catherine
Keep on 0115 9888583.
INFO
1. SFIE is a discretionary grant which provides assistance
towards business expansion projects with fixed capital expenditure
in the Assisted Areas of England. In November 2004, with the
support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), emda
launched an extended SFIE scheme that aims to assist businesses
in a wider geographical area. SFIE is now available in what is
called the Objective 2 areas which include parts of the cities
of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham and the Peak District
and rural Lincolnshire.
2. The Regional Venture Capital Fund has been set up with
investment from the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI),
local authority pension funds, the European Investment Fund and
the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been supported by the East
Midlands Development Agency (emda).
3. The objective of the fund is to fill the ‘equity
gap’ for small to medium sized enterprises in the East Midlands
and provide commercial returns to investors. The fund will invest
in businesses looking for venture capital funding for the first
time and will take an equity stake in the businesses it supports.
The fund is able to invest in initial amounts up to £250k,
although it may invest up to a further £250k after a minimum
6-month period.
4. The Pot of Gold competition is run by the Environmental
Industries Forum. The cash award is to be used for a research
project relating to the environmental credentials of the product
and process and is to be carried out by the company and a Higher
Education Institute.
5. Connect Midlands Springboard event is a one-day, informal
platform that allows early-stage companies to present their innovations
and showcase their ideas, concepts and proposals. The event calls
upon entrepreneurs and inventors, predominantly from the East
and West Midlands, to produce a ten minute presentation to an
invited audience of investors and business advisors.
6. The East Midlands Development Agency was set up in
1999 to bring more jobs and skills to the region and to make
the East Midlands a better place to live and work. By 2010 emda
wants the East Midlands to be one of the top 20 regions in Europe.
The latest figures from Eurostat show the East Midlands is already
on its way, moving from 35th to 28th place out of the 71 European
Regions.
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