Steph's advice points Shipston business on productive path

"We are delighted with the support we have received from the county council’s Business Support Programme and would recommend that any company, particularly small enterprises such as ourselves, take their advice if they are thinking of expanding.”

A Shipston landscaping and grounds maintenance business has invested in a recycling facility to turn customers green waste into organic compost.

Thomas Fox Landscaping, a family-run business, carries out a range of commercial contracts and domestic gardening and landscaping jobs throughout Warwickshire and the surrounding areas.

Every day it processes around five tonnes of green waste which is brought back to site - and this presented the company with a problem. Most of the waste is taken to the local recycling centres which was a time-consuming process - and not particularly green.

Thomas, the owner, wanted to make the waste disposal process eco-friendlier and identified that this could be achieved by investing in a large industrial shredder and creating a facility to produce organic compost onsite. This new product can be sold in large quantities for commercial purposes and bagged up for smaller jobs.

Thomas contacted Warwickshire County Council’s Business Support team for help with access to finance to support the investment.

Steph Williams, Warwickshire County Council’s business advisor, steered the business towards the council’s Small Capital Grant Programme and a grant of £12,484.20 was awarded to the business to set-up the facility.

The investment will create two new additional jobs and the company has created its first product and is now looking into providing an additional service to collect green waste from local businesses, such as florists, who produce large quantities of waste daily.

Thomas Fox paid tribute to Steph Williams for her input. He said: “We were very grateful to the county council’s staff for helping us to decide which funding stream would be most appropriate and then in producing the application, keeping it on track and making sure that it met all the criteria.

“The funding has really created an opportunity for us to grow. We are delighted with the support we have received from the county council’s Business Support Programme and would recommend that any company, particularly small enterprises such as ourselves, take their advice if they are thinking of expanding.”

* 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 with further funding from Warwickshire County Council.

To find out more about the range of support available to grow your business, please contact the Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub on 0300 060 3747