Time running out for grants up to £20k for Yorkshire businesses

“The PAPI grant has allowed us to invest in the machinery needed to expand our service offering into new sectors and end-applications,” says head of finance, Dan Jones

Forty per cent grants are available between £8,000 and £20,000 to businesses in York, North Yorkshire, and Leeds City Region. The project ends this year, so now is the time to speak to our team about your project and start your grant application!

Since PAPI began in 2016, over £4.3m of grants have been awarded, supporting over 260 businesses. This has led to the creation of over 400 new products and over 550 new jobs. The project will come to an end in December 2022, with final grants being awarded in summer 2022.

Arville Textiles, based in Wetherby, have been manufacturing technical textiles since 1951. They deliver end-to-end manufacturing of engineered bespoke fabrics which are developed to perform to exacting standards for their end applications. Their products are used in over 50 countries. Arville’s fabrics are specifically designed for commercial and industrial applications within the aerospace, defence, pharmaceutical, automotive and food industries. Their products are designed for specialist applications such as; aircraft seat suspension fabric, personal protective equipment and high performance inflatables (e.g. life rafts). Every fabric they produce is rigorously tested to ensure that they meet exceptionally high standards.

Arville continually looks to improve their processes and innovate within their industry. From the early days of manufacturing industrial textiles to their current work exploring the future of ballistics and aerospace, they continually invest in new ideas and innovation. One such innovation was to invest in specialist machinery that would allow them to produce bespoke widths of materials without impacting on the efficiency of their weaving looms. This allowed Arville the opportunity to service customers with a requirement for narrower fabrics that are used in more bespoke end-applications, and allow them to win new business in price-sensitive markets that previously were not commercially viable.

Arville approached PAPI for a grant to help to purchase a ‘log-cutter’ machine to slit rolls of fabric. This would enable them to carry out the process in-house rather than relying on more expensive third party subcontractors with long lead-times. This would allow the business to offer bespoke products to new sectors.

Arville were awarded a £7,452 grant to help to purchase the new machinery. Since purchasing the machinery, Arville have been successful in securing new orders for their new, bespoke-width products with a number of customers, allowing them to expand into new markets. They have also added one new job to the business. This has provided increased revenue and profitability, empowering future investment in the business and safeguarding the jobs and careers of their skilled workforce.

Head of finance, Dan Jones said: “The PAPI grant has allowed us to invest in the machinery needed to expand our service offering into new sectors and end-applications.”

Find out more

For more information about PAPI grants, visit the website here , call 01904 328076 or email [email protected] .

The PAPI project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and delivered by the University of York, in partnership with The Northern Powerhouse.