Our Business Growth Team helped a Wednesbury based logistics company secure grant funding to upgrade its alarm systems and CCTV.
About WOW Logistics
WOW Logistics provides distribution services and warehousing to the whole of the UK from its base in Wednesbury.
WOW’s 44,000 sq ft warehouse is situated just off Junction 9 of the M6. It provides a conveniently located storage solution for its clients. It has a fleet of four artic lorries and two rigid haulers. These deliver goods all over the country and provide distribution solutions for many different sectors.
Being located at the heart of the West Midlands provides an ideal base to service WOW’s nationwide clients. It also means that it was able to access the invaluable support provided by Sandwell Council.
How Sandwell Council helped WOW get grant funding
In ????, our Business Growth Team was delighted to help WOW Logistics secure grant funding via the AIM for GOLD programme.
Part-funded by the ERDF, AIM for GOLD was designed to support local small and medium-sized enterprises. The programme helps SMEs to achieve their full potential. For example, by supporting investment in capital equipment or revenue investments such as updating websites or IT equipment.
WOW Logistics received a grant of £3,500, which it used to upgrade its alarm systems and CCTV. The upgrades enabled the company to meet certain safety criteria, essential for expanding into new sectors.
WOW then secured contracts with new clients due to meeting the safety criteria. After that it was able to invest in raising its profile through improved social media.
WOW Logistics managing director Rachel Middleton, said: “The Aim for GOLD grant allowed us to expand our services, expertise and profile in the industry. We very much appreciate the knowledge, support and guidance we’ve had from Sandwell Council.”
What we said
[Name] was WOW Logistics business mentor from Sandwell Council’s Business Growth Team. They said: “It was a pleasure to work with Rachel and her team at WOW. We’d like to congratulate them on their success and wish them all the best for future projects and growth.”
About AIM for GOLD
IGNORE THIS SECTION – MARIE WILL WRITE AN OVER-ARCHING STORY TO LINK THE CASE STUDIES FROM
The Black Country region needs to provide sufficient support for businesses, including skills development and capital investment. This will increase the productivity of existing firms and enable them to innovate and grow, and to encourage more businesses to start up and scale up within the area.
49 businesses in Sandwell received at least £1000 in funding – with over £792,000 being awarded in all. This has led to the creation of 37 new jobs and helped Sandwell companies leverage over £1.7m in private sector finance.
Sandwell Council’s Business Growth Team is delighted to have exceeded all targets for delivering the Aim for GOLD scheme.
Sandwell Council was the only West Midlands local authority to meet all its targets. These included the number of companies supported, the amount of grant funding issued and the number of new jobs generated.
Together with regional partners Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley councils, the Aim for GOLD scheme supported a total of 292 companies. It awarded over £3.2m of grant funding.
Every member of our Business Growth Team – Gareth, Helen, Nicy and Darshana – worked hard to achieve (and exceed) all their targets and make a difference to our local economy. [name of company] is an example of just one business we supported in Sandwell.
For help finding funding visit our Open4Business funding portal.