Merseyside welcomes consultancy services

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 18, 2005

Working in partnership with Greater Merseyside Enterprise, technical consultants from Rapra have been helping Merseyside based companies develop plastics and rubber based innovations and services.

Rapra Technology is set to announce a set of successful company initiatives undertaken in the Greater Merseyside area.

Working in partnership with Birkenhead-based Greater Merseyside Enterprise, technical consultants from Rapra have been helping Merseyside based companies develop plastics and rubber based innovations and services.

GMEL delivers business support to individuals looking to start a business and to established businesses within Greater Merseyside (Wirral, Liverpool, Halton, Knowsley, Sefton and Southport) area.

A key method is to offer these businesses access to a wide range of approved consultants such as Rapra Technology.

GMEL helps local business find the most suitable advice and consultancy by matching needs and budget with them.

In most cases, using Objective 1 and Objective 2 European Funding is used and support from the North West Development Agency (NWDA) can also be used.

Services from experts such as Rapra's can therefore be subsidised by up to 40%.

Work with governments and agencies at regional level across the enlarged EU community is becoming a key part of Rapra Technology's work.

The Shrewsbury headquartered organisation is set to increase its headcount by over 40%, involving over 50 new jobs, through new business growth over the next five years.

The company's investment in new people and new areas of work follows a detailed business review, by the company's MBO team, over the past four months.

Regional support programmes play a key role in Rapra Technology's newly identified plastics-based growth areas.

The new Rapra growth areas are: environmental and recycling services; medical and pharmaceutical services; large research projects (UK-based, European and International); regional support programmes in the UK and across Europe; product design services; ad-hoc product testing services; and information group - nonresearch funded/dissemination projects.

The new Rapra growth areas are additional to, but will link with, Rapra's main traditional areas of business in materials consultancy, testing, polymer analysis and processing services - as well as database, publishing, conference and training services.