500 not out as Invest reaches major milestone
A family-run Renfrewshire engineering firm has just become the 500th local business to sign up for a council scheme aimed at boosting the local economy.
Reekie Machining of Inchinnan has been in existence for almost 70 years, but is now the newest sign-up for the £8m Invest in Renfrewshire programme.
Invest in Renfrewshire offers various packages of financial support to local firms with the twin aims of boosting business and tackling unemployment.
Reekie Machining – currently sub-contracted to work on the project to build a new Forth Road crossing – has received a business development grant through Invest.
This will go towards the cost of purchasing new high-tech measuring machinery which will help the firm increase the range of services offered to clients.
Renfrewshire Council Leader Mark Macmillan met operations director David Reekie – whose grandfather started the firm back in 1947 – to congratulate him on becoming the 500th sign-up, and see for himself where the money will go.
He said: “When Invest started back in summer 2012, we set the target of signing up 1,000 businesses.
“To have made 500 – and counting – within 18 months of the launch shows we are actually ahead of schedule.
“But the hard work doesn’t stop here – there are many more businesses out there who could benefit from the support we have to offer and who we can work with to help create employment opportunities for local residents.
“The council has made a sizeable financial commitment to Invest in Renfrewshire because we have a role to play in making Renfrewshire a better place to do business and see the local economy as one of our biggest priorities.
“We want the 500 companies who have signed up to Invest in Renfrewshire to help us spread the word to others and help the programme’s success continue.”
David Reekie, operations director of Reekie Machining, added: “The firm used to make and sell portable machine tools but these days we provide in situ machining services to clients, mainly in the oil and power industries.
“Our business development grant will help pay for a co-ordinate measuring machine, which will allow us to make more accurate measurements of machine parts.
“Invest in Renfrewshire is a really good scheme – it helped us make the decision to invest in this machinery, as we may not have gone for it without the funding.”
Other financial support available through the scheme includes an employer recruitment incentive, which helps firms meet the wage costs of hiring an unemployed young person, as well as business loans and grants.
To date, Invest in Renfrewshire has supported the creation of more than 350 new local jobs.
To find out more about Invest in Renfrewshire, call 0300 300 1180, email invest@renfrewshire.gov.uk or visit www.investinrenfewshire.com