West Park first to benefit from council funding scheme

A VIDEO production company has been given a boost with funding from Leeds City Council.

Leeds-based West Park Media won a £6,000 grant from the local authority’s Business Growth Fund Grant Scheme, which it invested in new computer and camera equipment.

West Park Media was the first company to benefit from the scheme, which was launched in June and aims to help small Leeds businesses expand and recruit local residents.

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The company was created in December 2007 by Simon Horniblow and Oliver Harrison, who used to work in television production.

After experiencing rapid growth including a number of office moves and staff recruitment, the business struggled to manage its archive of clips as it produced more video content.

Managing director Mr Horniblow said: “We used the grant for a new server which has enabled us to improve efficiency no end with our video footage now stored centrally rather than on separate hard drives.

“We can search and locate any video clip and work on the same material making work flow much more efficient. This is the single biggest investment we have made for the business since we started with the server costing £30,000 in total, so we are grateful for the help received.”

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The grant scheme was spawned from legacy funding from the Leeds Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, Sharing the Success, which ended in March 2011.

One of West Park’s first projects helps educate students on home cooking, through the website studentcooking.tv, which hosts online demonstrations, cooking tips and recipes.

The company now has clients including Mars, HSBC, West Yorkshire Fire Service and the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE).