- By Buckinghamshire Business First
- 28 November, 2014
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One of the first things they did was enter the Buckinghamshire Business Awards, something that would have wide-reaching benefits, as Nick explains: “We were lucky enough to win awards in consecutive years, first for Innovator of the Year in 2013 and then Excellence in Customer Service in 2014. In addition to the great PR and the boost to staff motivation that it gave us, the awards have actually generated quite a bit of money for us. As a result of our winning the Excellence in Customer Service Award we won £300,000 worth of contracts to supply a number of restaurant franchises including KFC, Starbucks and Chicken Cottage and as a result of that are now talking to other high profile companies with regards to similar contracts.”
As well as taking advantage of the networking opportunities that come from being a BBF member – “meet as many people as you can and you never know what may come of it”, says Nick, more money came in the form of grant funding, accessed with help from Buckinghamshire Business First. “We’re always told that there are so many grants available, but we didn’t know how to access them,” says Nick. “We spoke to Buckinghamshire Business First’s business support team who were fantastic and pointed us in the direction of all of the support that exists for businesses.”
Medical Supermarket soon benefited from a £5,000 Velocity Growth Grant, funding designed to help SMEs create or safeguard jobs and increase sales and productivity. “We have just employed the first person to join us as a direct result of the grant and we hope to have more to come,” says Nick, “so BBF can add to their ever-increasing figures for the number of new jobs they have created!”
As Medical Supermarket have discovered, there are many opportunities and a wide range of support available through Buckinghamshire Business First for businesses looking to first gain a foothold and then grow. Call us on 01494 568941 or email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com.
