Meet the maker

Manufacturing and engineering firms were told they could get access to relatively easy money to help them grow at the launch of a new group.

Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturing and Engineering Sector Group was born at Central Bedfordshire Council’s base in Chicksands on Thursday.

“The grant process can be done in a week,” said Roy Matthews, the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire advisor at the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). “Short projects are supported with grants of between £300 and £3,000 and we can support repeat projects.” Mr Matthews added others could help with finance.

MAS supply chain specialist Rachel Eade said there were huge opportunities for manufacturing and engineering companies in the auto industry, railways, aerospace and nuclear. MAS is funded by government.

In the evening’s keynote address, Ewan Lloyd-Baker, chief executive of the Luton-based pump and motor maker Hayward Tyler, said getting financial arrangements right was critical in turning the company from a “problem child to a rising star.”