Lesley Ridyard, director at Monolith
A St Asaph manufacturer of innovative building materials has increased its turnover by £25,000 per year after accessing support through Business Wales.
Monolith UK, which makes and retails lightweight finishing systems for the construction industry successfully applied for a Welsh Government SME Capital grant following help and advice from the Welsh Government’s free business support service.
The grant allowed Monolith to acquire a £23,000 industrial compacting grinder, which crushes waste into cubes 30 times smaller than its original size.
Now the growing company, which counts Stella Artois, Reebok and Barbour among its clients, has saved much-needed room and started making money from its recycled off-cuts.
Thanks to Business Wales’ support, the grant application took just three months to complete, with Monolith now receiving guidance on exporting its innovative products abroad.
Lesley Ridyard, director at Monolith, said: “Our products are made using expanded polystyrene. The process of cutting the products to size creates a lot of bulky waste, which quickly clutters up our workshop.
“We used to have to get members of the team to smash the offcuts up. This took time, had our staff out of action, and we also then had to pay for it to be returned to our local recycling centre.
“We approached Business Wales looking for funding to purchase a machine that can reduce our waste and allow us to recycle it.
“It’s made a huge difference to the business – we’re saving about £11,000 a year on recycling alone, while the manpower the machine has freed up has allowed us to increase our produce as well.
“Now the waste is crushed into blocks and another company pays us to collect the waste, which is recycled into all sorts of things – from park benches to product packaging.
“Business Wales was fantastic from start to finish, and we’re now talking to the team about exporting our products.”
Monolith is just one of hundreds of small to medium enterprises from across Wales that receives invaluable support and advice from Business Wales.
The free service, which has offices in Bangor, Holywell, St Asaph and Wrexham, delivers free, bilingual advice to businesses of all sizes from across Wales.
Business Wales advisor Sian Emlyn Jones, who assisted with the SME Capital Grant application, said: “It’s fantastic that Monolith has turned a significant outlay into something that actually makes the business money.
“The new machine has also had a significant impact on the workforce at Monolith, with staff freed up to increase production and a new member of staff hired to manage the recycling.
“There’s plenty of opportunities for Welsh SMEs to access grants that make a real difference to their business. Our advice is impartial and provided free of charge, so there’s nothing to lose from getting in touch to see what opportunities are available.”
Business Wales is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.
For more information on the grant access or any of the services provided by Business Wales, call 03000 6 03000, follow Business Wales on Twitter @_businesswales, or visit www.business.wales.gov.uk for further information.
