A BUDDING young business with plans for expansion has been short-listed for a free advertising and mentoring programme supported by the South Wales Evening Post.
Glass Tech Recycling, in Llandarcy, is one of eight promising businesses to have made the short-list for the regional round of this year’s Local Business Accelerators (LBA) competition, which offers the winners free advertising and mentoring from business expert and Swansea city centre team leader Dan Jones.
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The firm’s operations director Karen John said the business, which started trading in 2011 as a specialist glass recycling company, survived its first year with better than predicted results, allowing it to forge ahead with expansion plans of a second site in North Wales.
She added: “We have improved the quality of one of our products, it now achieves a British Standard and we need help to advertise the product to the right markets.
“We would love to have a mentor to advise us through the expansion phase of our business, helping us to grow.
“We would love to export our products to mainland Europe and advice in this area would be invaluable.”
The Evening Post will announce the three winners of the LBA regional award on Wednesday, February 6.
Nationally, the overall winner will receive free membership of the CBI business group for a year, free business advice from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England Wales (ICAEW) valued at £2,000 and an iPad from Freeagent, which is also offering a year’s free access to its accountancy software to each of the national finalists, valued at £300 per finalist.
This is in addition to the campaign’s main prize of mentoring from the campaign’s national ambassador Deborah Meaden, of Dragons’ Den.
The Business Growth Fund has also contributed with a £10,000 cash sum for the overall winner.
The campaign has also received the backing of a host of high profile supporters.
Michael Fallon, Minister for Business and Enterprise, said: “The Government is proud to support the Local Business Accelerators initiative, which highlights the important role that local papers can play in working with businesses in their area.
“There are around 4.8 million small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK, that’s around 99 per cent of all businesses.
“They are the lifeblood of our economy and that’s why we fee it’s so important to support Local Business Accelerators.
“Local press can help businesses reach more than 30 million people who rely on local papers and for information about events and services in their area each week.”
More than 900 small businesses across the UK have applied for a place on the scheme.