The North of Tyne Growth Fund is a £4.6m European Regional Development Fund that aims to support SMEs across Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle to create employment and stimulate business growth. The North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) has made it easier for SMEs to gain financial support, by lowering the minimum grant threshold from £40,000 to £20,000.
It means small businesses with smaller projects are now able to access growth funding. Delivered by UMi, this project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Programme 2014-2020 and part of a £19.75m package of business support mobilised by NTCA. All successful grants applications are appraised by UNW LLP, an independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisers.
Offshore innovators Transmission Dynamics have broken ground at the site of their new £4.8m base in Northumberland.
A £500,000 grant from the North of Tyne Growth Fund helped Transmission Dynamics commission a new hybrid office, warehouse and engineering facility to home its expanding team, with 50 new jobs on the horizon. Transmission Dynamics Business Development Director Jenny Hudson said the move would help the Cramlington-based company realise its growth potential.
Mayor Jamie Driscoll said: “Small businesses are the life blood of our local economy At the North of Tyne, we’re investing to help those businesses grow and to innovate for the future It’s all about creating good jobs for people, supporting small businesses to thrive, and doing it in a collaborative way.”
JR Dynamics Ltd (trading as Transmission Dynamics), is a multi-award-winning Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company with 20+ years’ experience designing and manufacturing bespoke systems to measure critical parameters in challenging environments. Clients include Siemens-Gamesa, ZF Wind Power, Vestas, Park Wind and EWT and many other Wind Turbine gearbox manufacturers operating globally. The company deploys IoT solutions to many other key industries, including power generation, transportation, construction, marine, automotive, and defence. The Transmission Dynamics team combines human and artificial intelligence (AI) to solve complex engineering problems using innovative wireless remote condition monitoring solutions, which they design, manufacture and operate in-house.
Transmission Dynamics Business Development Director Jenny Hudson said: “The new building will enable the team to conduct research and development, manufacture our innovative sensors, crunch data and do the creative thinking required to provide ground-breaking solutions to our clients – all under one roof. The North of Tyne as a region is launching into the Green Economy and we have the expertise and facilities here to make the most of those opportunities and hel the global economy to meet net-zero targets.”
In June, Transmission Dynamics was one of five companies operating in the North of Tyne region selected to showcase their innovative technologies to offshore wind industry giants Equinor and EDF Renewables as part of the Technology, Innovation and Green Growth for Offshore Renewables (TIGGOR) programme. The successful companies – Transmission Dynamics, Kinewell Energy, SMD, Trident Dynamics and Unasys – each received a share of £1.7m in match funding made available through the first round of the TIGGOR programme’s technology demonstration strand, funded by the NTCA as part of its wider Energy, Green Growth and Climate Change commitments.
NTCA has partnered with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, which is delivering the programme on its behalf.
