Minister Delighted By Popularity Of Productive Investment Capital Grant Scheme

Economy minister Gordon Lyons is delighted by the impact that the Covid-19 Productive Investment Capital Grant (PICG) has had, a grant which has been funded through the Economic Recovery Plan developed by Invest Northern Ireland.

Investing In New Technology & Processes

The grant has helped over 100 businesses survive and recover from the effect that the pandemic has had on the economic landscape. It gave them the opportunity to invest in new technology and processes so that they could improve their efficiency and be resilient through the crisis.

Delighted To Provide This Additional Funding

Minister Gordon Lyons is quoted talking about the subject in an article on the Economy NI website, saying:

“This was a very popular scheme from day one and received a significant number of applications. I am delighted my Department was able to provide additional funding through our Economic Recovery Action Plan to ensure more businesses were able to benefit; and that the full £11m provided has been offered to businesses.

“By now, 103 businesses have successfully applied and received an offer of support through the scheme, ensuring they are able to make crucial capital investments to make them more resilient, more profitable, and more productive.”

In the same article Joanne Liddle, Managing Director of IPC Mouldings in Carrickfergus, one of the businesses to benefit from the support of PICG, said:

“We mainly manufacture products for the aerospace sector, specifically for aircraft interiors so, as you can imagine, our business was heavily impacted by Covid-19 when air travel was significantly reduced.

“However, we saw an opportunity to improve our processes and our efficiency, and at the same time capitalise on new growth opportunities. We are using this support from PICG to purchase three new machines which will not only improve our cycle times but add capacity and capability. This will have a significant impact on our productivity and profitability as we emerge stronger from the crisis.”

Helped Businesses To Invest In Their Future

And Grainne McVeigh, Invest NI’s Director of Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering, said about the help that IPC Mouldings have had:

“We know this support has given the company confidence to invest in new machinery, in these challenging times. The Productive Investment Capital Grant has helped so many businesses make that important commitment to invest in their future. We are also seeing an even wider benefit as capital investments, which improve a business’s productivity and profitability, stimulate economic growth.”