Simply Devine is a specialist designer of occasion headwear run by award-winning milliner and businesswoman Liz Devine-Wright. Their very own hat shop in Tadcaster, Yorkshire is a popular destination for those who want a special hat for an occasion when they need to look their absolute best such as weddings, garden parties or race meetings. Their collection of hats and fascinators are all designed by Liz herself or by well-known British designers.
The business faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, when live events were cancelled along with supply chain and staffing issues. These issues uncovered a need to build a robust strategy for business growth, which is where the Manufacturing Growth Programme was able to assist.
Jeeva Sanmugam, Managing Director of Classic Cuisine Limited, reached out to the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) for help to promote the Classic Cuisine brands in a highly competitive marketplace and ensure that its unique attributes were effectively communicated and consistently promoted.
There has been a boom in the popularity of cycling, health and fitness recently. As a result, the business has experienced rapid growth which has brought about challenges such as needing to increase their capacity and productivity. To assist with their high-growth challenges, the business has utilised various support programmes available in the Leeds City region. Restrap has benefitted from capital funding from the Leeds Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). They have also been able to access grant funding from the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), and also fully funded business coaching from the Strategic Growth Programme (SGP).
Mike Forster, Managing Director of Trident Hydraulics added, “The capacity in the unit has increased by 30%, partly thanks to the grant provided by MGP by enabling us to develop our processes, we’ve seen a significantly increased appetite for new products across our markets. Our increased capacity has allowed us to fully capitalise on this increased demand.”