Property specialist George F White has hit a milestone after helping the region’s rural businesses to secure £10m in grant funding to grow and improve their ventures.
George F White has seen a considerable rise in enquiries from North East rural businesses looking to tap into funding grants. Most recently, the team secured a grant of £750,000 for Northumberland based Coastal Grains from the RDPE Growth Programme.
The funds are supporting the continued growth of Coastal Grains, a cooperative of over 100 farms across the county, and have been invested in new equipment, technology and training ahead of the season’s harvest at the end of July, securing a number of local jobs in the process. A large proportion of the funds have been used to purchase new silos, increasing storage capacity to 135,000 tonnes, allowing grain from all farms in the cooperative to be stored at a single site.
This will relieve the need for third party storage, reducing costs and the environmental impact with less vehicle movement.New conveyors, intake systems and a batch dryer to cope with specialist grains produced for key clients including McVitie’s and Grant’s whisky have also been introduced, as well as other works to improve operations.
The enhancements will allow Coastal Grains to welcome more farmers into the cooperative and meet the changing needs of its members. The George F White team also supported with planning applications to gain consent for the new additions to the site.
Jamie Oliver, associate at George F White, said: “We are so invested in the businesses we support and are always thrilled to see them awarded with funds to reach their objectives, develop and improve. Their successes feel like our successes. In recent years more businesses have been coming forward keen to tap into funding available, and by working closely with them, successful applications have driven £10m back into the North East economy, all while helping them thrive.”
Stephanie Linnell, partner at George F White, added: “Forward-thinking, growing businesses like Coastal Grains are brilliant to work with as they are incredibly innovative and consistently looking ahead at what the next big thing is, which is exciting to be part of and we can add a lot of value.
Graeme Wyld, CEO at Coastal Grains, said: “George F White has been a trusted advisor of ours for almost 10 years and crucial to our growth. Following this latest funding we’re now on phase 13 of expansion and it wouldn’t have been possible without the team.
“Their proactive approach to flagging new grant opportunities and navigating the whole process on our behalf is invaluable.
“Farming makes up a large proportion of jobs in the county and we want to continue growing as long as it’s in the best interests of our members; future-proofing our operations, upskilling our workforce, supporting the local farming economy and securing local jobs.”
