Supporting Sylatech with strategy and funding

Video transcription

One of the benefits of dealing with the Growth Hub is that they are well connected, they know a lot of people in industry, and they’re very willing to, on their own back just go and make those introductions, some of which can be extremely useful. Our primary focus in Sylatech is to continue to grow. Innovation is absolutely integral in that growth. Having access to national and local support is absolutely paramount to helping us grow our business in line with what the customer requires.

Sylatech’s business is split into four key divisions, an investment casting foundry, a CNC machine shop, an RF microwave function, and an R&D facility. Within Sylatech’s R&D function, we have a number of innovative projects underway including one which will produce WorldCast castings and another delivering plastics recycling system.

Our challenges are not really any different from a any other companies, we have challenges with employment, we have challenges with customers, and we have challenges with market forces. So we were approached by the Growth Hub as just another local business that clearly had big ambitions. And they just came in contact with us to see how they could support. When you run a business that innovates as much as we do, you continually have to find alternative sources because innovation is expensive. So having access to local bodies such as the LEP and the Growth Hub are absolutely critical to the success of some of these innovative programmes. The Growth Hub offered us primarily introductions to support schemes, we were introduced to the Let’s Grow Fund, the Spark Fund, and several key players who are industry specialists and quite well connected in our sector.

Of the grant that we applied for, there was a significant amount of money to purchase the adjoining land to the factory to erect a large building, and then a variety of other capital investments for equipment. The support of the LEP and the Growth Hub will be absolutely key to the long term success of our strategy, it’s very refreshing to have such interested local support that genuinely feel like they are pushing for what your best interests are. It’s incredibly helpful to have someone with the knowledge of what’s available, supporting the company by giving you that direction.

Learn more about Sylatech on their website.

View more business support resources from York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub.