Tradespeople get a helping hand after Get Work secures £100k NPIF loan
Lancashire-based Get Work, a service that generates local leads for tradespeople, has received a £100k loan from NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance, a product managed by GC Business Finance & MSIF and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
This follows the news that the firm has partnered with internet giant Google to provide a fully automated lead generation service for tradespeople. The partnership with Google will see both companies make further strides in helping tradespeople grow their businesses online.
Established in 2018, Get Work helps tradespeople grow their businesses by making online advertising more accessible. Customers, including electricians, joiners and landscapers, sign up online and Get Work’s fully automated platform takes care of everything for them; from the setup of a dedicated landing page, Google Ads account and call management, through to account optimisation and reporting.
Get Work will utilise the £100k loan to set up an office for the current five employees of the firm, with Get Work aiming to have a team of 16 by October 2021. The funding will also be used to improve its website and sign-up process, as well as increasing its marketing spend to encourage more tradespeople onto the platform.
Mark Gibbons, senior loan manager at GC Business Finance, said: “At GC Business Finance, we are passionate about helping growing businesses to really establish themselves in the market. Get Work has developed at an extraordinary pace in which we have been really impressed and its recent partnership with Google shows their credibility and growth potential. We fully believe in Get Work and their online platform and hope that with our funds they can scale up their operations and help even more tradespeople across the country.”
Nick Cole, managing director of Get Work, said: “We are really proud of what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time. The funds from GC Business Finance and NPIF will help solidify our market position, improve our digital infrastructure and attract new tradespeople to join our platform. Although we are a relatively new business, our partnership with Google has proved that we are on the path to success and we are in a strong position to really accelerate the growth of Get Work.”
Get Work was referred to UCLAN Investment Readiness through Boost, Lancashire’s Growth Hub whose role is to direct growing Lancashire companies to the most suitable form of business support. UCLAN supported the company in securing the investment form Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
Chairman of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Steve Fogg, said: “It’s great to see NPIF supporting another Lancashire SME, this time in the key digital and creative sector. Access to finance can be crucial in helping SMEs grow and succeed. We’d like to see more Lancashire SMEs apply for NPIF support.
“NPIF investment could be a huge help to early stage innovative businesses through to manufacturing and creative and digital industries throughout the county. So if your SME has the potential to grow and needs funding, I would strongly encourage you to contact the NPIF and see what’s available.”
Sue Barnard, senior manager for British Business Bank, said: “Historically, funding options for businesses in the North have been scarce, which has stifled growth and innovation in the region. NPIF is making real strides in reducing the regional funding gap between the North and the South, providing a variety of finance solutions that help businesses in the North realise their growth ambitions.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.