SJE established and growing following business support

"We spoke to Sim and Jag and then to Kieran at Coventry and they have all been brilliant. The grants and advice we have received have been invaluable"

A small engineering company is settled in brand new premises and looking to grow after weathering the Coronavirus crisis thanks to business support from two councils. 

Steve and Tara Edmunds set up SJE Engineering in March. Armed with long experience in the relevant sector they were confident they would make a go of it, but just needed some advice on how to make the leap.

That leap, always a big one, was further complicated by lockdown, but the business is now up and running, and has started strongly, following support from Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council.

Steve and Tara spoke to businesses advisors Sim Lee and Jagdish Soor at Warwickshire County Council. They engaged them on the Warwickshire Business Support Programme and helped with registering the company, insurances, pricing and negotiating the lease.

Most importantly, they advised on potential funding for the new business and this included putting them in touch with Kierandeep Bal, business development advisor at Coventry City Council. This led to the securing of a £9,000 grant towards the purchase of two new CNC machines which are now installed.

"We were confident that we knew how to the run a business," said Steve. "We just didn't know how to start a business.

"The bank suggested that we get in touch with Warwickshire County Council so we did that and spoke to Sim and Jag and then to Kieran at Coventry and they have all been brilliant. The grants and advice we have received have been invaluable.

 "There was a delay at one stage during lockdown when the grants were put on hold, but then Sim called me one Tuesday so say they were coming back on line. I said 'that's great, but we've got to put the deposit down by Friday!' He said 'let's see what we can do'...and contacted Kieran and they got the grant through in a matter of days which was massive for us.

"It was so frustrating at the start because we were all ready to take the plunge, and then Coronavirus hit. The unit was ready and spotless and ready to go and then came lockdown, but now we are up and running with plenty of customers and will be looking to recruit.

"We will take on somebody by the end of the year and then another person next year. I'm looking forward to that because part of my job has always been training people and it's something I really enjoy. I always look for the right attitude in a person - you can have the best CV in the world but it's the right attitude that will bring success."

* The advice for the company was delivered as part of the “CW Business – Start, Grow and Scale” project which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Warwickshire County Council. The grant is funded as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support Programme which is part-funded by ERDF.