Sefton Council

Representatives from Sefton Council visited two local businesses to hear all about their thriving ventures.

Success stories and plans for expansion were discussed when Sefton Council visited two borough-based businesses.

Cllr Marion Atkinson, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, was joined by officers from Invest Sefton on guided tours of Sefton Carers Centre, Waterloo and Hybrid Technical Services Ltd, Aintree.

 Sefton Carers Centre has been running for more than 21 years and through the company, they set up the Learning Well Agency as a trading arm in 2015.

The Learning Well Agency has been given a unique opportunity to sell recycled paint via Recipro, Wirral (an organisation set up with community benefits in mind and supports the environment by recycling unused building materials from projects).  

Dulux, the paint manufacturer, have selected Recipro to be one of the first Community Repaint Remanufacturing Centres in the UK, and invested over £3m in the new recycling equipment.  

The re manufacturing process takes unused/discarded paint, then filters and processes it to create a new paint product.  The Learning Well Agency had meetings with Recipro about becoming a supplier of the paint for the Sefton area.

The Learning Well Agency have now got exclusivity to sell the Community Repaint to commercial companies, public sector and members of the general public.  

Invest Sefton have supported Sefton Carers with introductions to commercial painting and decorating companies and visits to the Recipro site.

The company has also created job opportunities with support from Sefton@Work’s ILM programme. 

Hybrid Technical Services Ltd was established in 2005 as a Training Provider. They specialise in Electricity, Gas and Plumbing training and accreditation.

In April 2006 they moved to their current location in Aintree, grew the business and acquired an additional unit. The growth of the business was restricted by the size of the premises and the next phase of development is the purchase of business premises, the creation of larger classrooms to train and accredit more students and grow turnover.

Invest Sefton have assisted in acquiring Finance and Grant Support to purchase and renovate the new unit, which is 3 times larger than their current units. This secures Hybrid’s future and provides a permanent home within Sefton.

Job creation is expected to be in the region of 10 new roles adding to existing staff of 8.

Cllr Marion Atkinson said: “It was really pleasing to hear directly the success these two local businesses are having and the positive impact they are having on the local economy.

“We are very keen to help businesses both new and established to develop and grow further through expert business support. The InvestSefton and Sefton@Work teams work extremely hard to support a number of SMEs and it is fantastic to hear that this partnership work is having such a positive impact in developing the local economy and securing jobs for now and the future.

“The more I hear about success stories like these, it reinforces the message that we have an important role in making sure everyone knows that Sefton is open for business.”

Vicky Keeley, CEXfrom Sefton Carers, added: “As a charity, we are not experts in commercial business development. Invest Sefton provided the knowledge and development support we lacked to make this project a reality. Not only have they developed the business model with us they have added energy, strength and confidence to the project.
 
“Without Invest Sefton I do not feel that the project would be the success it is and we will continue to work with them to grow and develop this social enterprise which will enable us to support local vulnerable people in the borough.”

John Burns at Hybrid Technical Services said: “We started our journey with Sefton Council and the Invest in Sefton group about a year ago not really knowing what we were looking for but knew we needed to expand. 

“They guided us through the financial minefield with an expertise and knowledge that was both comforting and impressive and today we are the proud owners of a large building which we are turning into a state of the art training centre. Thank you.”

From Monday 26^th June 2017, repairs will start on the access road to Sefton Meadows Household Waste Recycling Centre.

These may cause some disruption between 8.00 am and 5.00 pm, and the works are expected to last 5 days – with expected completion on Friday 30^th June.

The road will remain open with traffic management measures in place, and all businesses will be open as usual.

Customers should follow the diversion signs, as there may be some disruption caused by the work. The Sefton Meadows Household Waste Recycling Centre will be open as usual, 7 days a week from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm. 

Any enquiries about the work can be directed to Veolia.

Tel: 0203 567 4200           www.veolia.co.uk/merseyside-and-halton