Business Promotion Grants awarded to Devon companies

Funding has been awarded to 12 Devon businesses to help them promote themselves to new audiences.

Devon County Council’s Business Promotion Grant was recently launched through its Devon Delivers programme, which aims to encourage businesses to relocate to the county.

The Council has now announced the companies receiving grants of £1,000 to cover direct exhibiting costs of attending trade shows or events this year. With the support of this County Council grant, some of Devon’s most cutting-edge products and services are gaining valuable exposure at high-profile industry events across the country, promoting them to national and international audiences.

The businesses benefiting from the grant include Exeter based Cgon, which manufactures fuel saving and emission reduction devices for motor vehicles. The company will be attending the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham next month.

Simpleware, based in Exeter, will exhibit its world-leading 3D image processing, analysis and model generation software and services at the NAFEMS UK Conference in Telford in June. Electronic cow monitoring company, eCow, also based in Exeter, will attend the UK Dairy Day in Telford in September.

Professor Toby Mottram, Chief Engineer at eCow, said: "The Devon Delivers support allows us to have an independent stand at a major dairy show for the first time to promote our solution to the problem of managing cow nutrition.  Ours is a radical high tech solution measuring rumen pH rather than guessing this key parameter in dairy cow feeding."

Cottonsafe, based in Woodbury, will use its share of the grant to exhibit its naturally fire-retardant furniture fabric at the Decorex International Show in London in September. The company has developed and patented the material, which is handmade in Devon, without any fire retardant chemicals and it is promoting the product to the hotel and interior design industry.

Lifesaver Technology Ltd, of Morebath, will attend the Venue Expo in Liverpool in November to showcase its innovative emergency first aid equipment.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: “We received an incredible response to the competitive bidding process held for these grants and we have ensured that as many companies as possible benefit from this scheme. Our Devon Delivers initiative is all about promoting the county as a location where successful businesses can thrive, and this grant funding will enable Devon businesses to receive important exposure in showcasing what they and the county have to offer.”

The full list of grant recipients is Applegate Marketplace, Cgon, Cottonsafe, eCow, Exciting Education, Eye Sky Group, Lifesaver Technology Ltd, Lockabox, Simpleware, Twool, Virtual Jet Centre and Westcountry Concrete.

For more information about the Devon Delivers programme go to www.investdevon.co.uk.