Business News In brief


More than £64.8m has been invested into 257 businesses by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF). The £250m fund, which was launched by the Government’s British Business Bank in 2017 to support small businesses in the Midlands, has helped to create 629 jobs The MEIF is continuing to


invest via its seven fund managers throughout the Covid- 19 outbreak. Patrick Magee, chief


commercial officer at the British Business Bank, said: “The last few months have not been easy for small businesses in the UK. This includes the Midlands, where the British Business Bank has already identified a gap in the provision of SME finance. “The MEIF is key to driving


forward the Midlands Engine economy. We are committed to building on the Fund’s progress and sustaining strong levels of support; the bank is also operating a range of other initiatives to enable businesses to access finance at this time.”


Unity Trust Bank is set to support Covid-19 hit small businesses in the West Midlands with a six-figure funding package. The commercial bank has


agreed a loan of £900,000 for Birmingham-based ART Business Loans (ART), a community development finance institution and accredited provider of the Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). CBILS provides financial


support to SMEs that are losing revenue and seeing their cashflow disrupted as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, and this loan will be used to support existing ART clients who have been affected. ART chief executive Dr Steve


Walker said: “Thanks to this funding from Unity Trust Bank, we are hoping to support more than 25 businesses across a wide range of sectors in under- served areas and communities which have been declined financial help from other banks.”


Paraid, part of Evac+Chair International, has released a new conversion product for ambulance stretchers. The Adapter+ will enable


standard ambulance stretchers to be easily converted into critical-care stretchers. Paraid says that the Covid-19


outbreak has required stretchers to be able to accommodate more equipment, including monitors, ventilators, infusion pumps and syringe drivers.


16 CHAMBERLINK June/July 2020


Gymshark founder earns place on UK’s rich list


Multi-millionaire: Ben Francis (right) with the Chamber’s Russ Ashman


Young Birmingham entrepreneur Ben Francis has been named for the first time in the ‘Sunday Times Rich List’. The self-made founder and majority owner of the


‘athleisure’ company Gymshark entered the 1,000- strong list at number 873 with an estimated fortune of £138m, amassed in only eight years. The 27 year-old is a former Aston University student.


Gymshark is a member of the Chamber’s 1813 group of companies, created to acknowledge the year the organisation was founded. Chamber chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “Ben is


an outstanding example of brilliant entrepreneurship and we are proud to have him on board as a significant member of the Chamber family.


‘Ben is an outstanding example of brilliant entrepreneurship’


“His support of Future Faces has been invaluable and


we look forward to sharing even more success with this remarkable young man.” Even though gyms are closed, Ben says the business


is weathering the Covid-19 crisis because he only sells his products online. In an extensive ‘Sunday Times’ magazine interview, he said: “We’re in a very fortunate position where a lot of people all of a sudden are more active than they were a few weeks ago.” Ben grew up in Bromsgrove and started body-


building while at school. After studying international business and management at Aston Unversity, he launched smartphone fitness apps that ‘didn’t do well commercially’. However, it was a different story when he started


Gymshark at the age of 19 to sell bodybuilding supplements online. He then filled a gap in the market by making clothes for the bodybuilding scene and launched Gymshark in 2012. The company posted £176.1m sales in the year to 31


July with £18.4m pre-tax profits. He still has a long way to go but Ben is determined


to challenge the giants in the industry, Adidas, Nike and Puma.


Rail interchange gets green light


A controversial rail freight interchange scheme near Cannock has been given the go-ahead by the Government, despite fierce local opposition. The scheme is the West Midlands


Interchange (WMI), a strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) that will occupy 700 acres of land at Four Ashes, which is close to the M54. The project is being promoted by


a consortium led by Kilbride Holdings, under the banner of Four Ashes Ltd, and will create more than 8,500 jobs. However, the scheme is being opposed by residents, as well as Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent and even local Tory MP Gavin Williamson, who said: “I’ve long campaigned to prevent this going ahead and we will keep


fighting to see this proposal rejected.” The main reason for the opposition is the scheme’s location, in the South Staffordshire green belt. Staffordshire County Council’s


cabinet member for economic growth, Mark Winnington, said: “The county council did not approve of this proposal due to its location in the South Staffordshire green belt. “We were a consultee on the


plans and have worked from the beginning to ensure Four Ashes Ltd does everything it can to mitigate its impact on local communities. “This includes minimising


environmental damage and the resulting pressure on roads and services. We will be reviewing the


detail to make sure all the infrastructure we asked for has been secured, particularly around HGV movements and parking. “As a council we have signed up


to a climate change emergency motion and therefore now this development has been approved it is essential that the rail terminal is delivered first as part of the scheme. “Our priority remains on ensuring


there is maximum mitigation and appropriate compensation to affected communities.” Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire


Local Enterprise Partnership chairman Alun Rogers said: “As the scheme develops, we will be doing all we can to make the case for inclusion of advanced manufacturing businesses on site along with logistics.”


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