Weedfree secures long term contracts with Finance Yorkshire investment
Goole-based Weedfree has secured two new long term contracts in Europe following a further funding round by Finance Yorkshire.
The weed control specialist company has won the work to treat rail network in Denmark for five years. It has also secured a six-year contract in Norway where it will treat the entire Norwegian rail network - 4,000km of track a year – with herbicide using its weed spray train.
Finance Yorkshire has supported Weedfree since 2011, investing a total of £250,000 last year from its Business Loans fund to support Weedfree in marketing its services to the European countries.
Managing Director Neil Bangham said: "We’ve used the funding from Finance Yorkshire to bolster our UK business by investing in training which has enabled us to broaden the spectrum of services we offer.
"More recently, the funding has really helped us to market ourselves in Europe and secure the new contracts in Denmark and Norway, adding to the work already carried out by the company in Belgium.
"The Business Loans work really well for us – the response is always quick, which is important in order to achieve these new contracts – and the broader support we receive from Finance Yorkshire is also very helpful."
Weedfree employs 60 full-time staff and as many as 150 during peak seasonal working periods. Its market-leading industrial and amenity weed control systems are also being marketed in US and Canada.
Finance Yorkshire Chief Executive Alex McWhirter said: "Weedfree is a terrific example of the type of regional company where our investments make a real difference at the right time in the life cycle of the business. We will be continuing to invest in SMEs throughout 2015, supporting businesses like Weedfree to grow, create jobs and become even more profitable."
Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager Ian Atkinson said: "Weedfree is an established business with ambition to strengthen its UK position and grow its international sales at the same time. Our continued investment has proven instrumental in enabling Neil and his team to expand their operation both at home and abroad."
Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, UK Government and match funding from the European Investment Bank.
For more information about Finance Yorkshire, please visit www.finance-yorkshire.com or call 0300 030 6060.
Note: this news article is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire