Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice recently visited MERC Engineering in Barrowford, to hear from the sharp end how local businesses are coping with the economic downturn.
MERC Engineering has recently been awarded a £40,000 contribution towards the cost of a new CNC lathe and machining centre from the Local Enterprise Grant Initiative (LEGI) funded by the Government. This is part of a major initiative to increase employment opportunities and help safeguard existing jobs. Pennine Lancashire has had £750,000 in funding during 2009/10, using the local authorities as the link to employers.
Gordon Prentice commented, “The LEGI grant has enabled MERC Engineering to buy a very sophisticated piece of engineering equipment. It will significantly reduce the time required to produce complex products for a wide range of customers and varied applications. The CNC machining centre enables the technical drawings to be downloaded from a computer and the complex part to be produced from a single piece of metal. It is most impressive to see.”
“Les Nuttall, MERC Engineering’s managing director, explained that the economic downturn had hit the company’s order book early in 2009 but intensive marketing and the investment from the LEGI fund had produced real benefits for the company and the future was looking much brighter. He is looking to create around 14 new jobs and the company is likely to expand into additional premises to handle the forecast work.”
“It is vital to safeguard local jobs and provide essential capital for local companies during these difficult times. This initiative by the Department of Communities and Local Government is just part of the raft of measures to safeguard jobs and help businesses survive the world economic downturn, following the 2008 banking collapse.”
Note to Editors: the attached photograph shows Gordon Prentice MP and Les Nuttall, Managing Director of MERC Engineering, Barrowford, standing by a CNC machining centre in the engineering plant.