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North East accountancy firm secures £110 million grant funding for clients

Accountancy and business advisory firm Clive Owen & Co LLP, which has offices in Durham, Darlington and York, have reportedly secured over £110 million of grant funding for their clients.

The firm has seen increased demand for its grants experts over the last three years thanks to the launch of the national Regional Growth Fund and regional programmes such as Let’s Grow and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP grant schemes.

To date, the firm has worked on all aspects of the grant application process. It includes providing application support, due diligence and appraisal services and claim support engagements. More than 90% of its applications have been successful.

The firm has helped more than 70 local, national and global companies to secure and drawdown grant funding, including Teesside-based multimodal firm, AV Dawson Ltd.

AV Dawson, based at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Park, secured £1.2 million from the Regional Growth Fund for its Tees multimodal bio-freight terminal as part of its £10 million expansion plans.

Clive Owen has also worked on more than £5 million worth of applications under the Let’s Grow scheme, with 21 successful bids in the North East.

In Yorkshire, it has helped secure almost £1 million for three companies via the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP scheme.

Businesses which have been supported have ranged from those with three employees to multi-national engineering and automotive companies.

The company has worked with grant applicants in a wide range of sectors including pharmaceutical, engineering, steel, manufacturing, chemicals, oil and gas and digital technology.

AV Dawson finance director, John Young, said: “The complex nature of the project required a real understanding of our organisation and the challenges we would face in delivering the project over a three year period.

“I’m delighted to say we’re reaching its conclusion. The construction of our Tees Riverside Intermodal Park (TRIP) and completing of our quay extension has delivered a badly needed new port and rail infrastructure to Teesside.

“As a company we’re now starting to feel the benefits of this investment, which has been the biggest in our 76 year history, and it’s gratifying to see the regeneration of industrial land that had remained derelict for so many decades.

“The completion of our new automotive coil store will be the culmination of the project, taking our investment to in excess of £10 million.

“Without the help and commitment of Neville Baldry and his team, it is difficult to imagine that we would have been successful.

“The work undertaken by Clive Owen in helping to deliver grant funding for the project has enabled the directors of AV Dawson to balance the commercial risk and invest for the future with confidence.”

Grants partner at Clive Owen, Neville Baldry, said: “The last three years have been exceptionally busy for us, and we’ve been delighted to secure some significant grants which have enabled companies to press ahead with their expansion plans.

“We welcome the launch of phase 2 of the North East Let’s Grow scheme and are looking forward to working with companies across the region to put together strong applications for funding from this programme, as well as continuing to support previous successful applicants with the drawdown of their grants.”