January 19th 2024
South Yorkshire tech grant welcomes 100th job
Scheme to encourage new tech start-ups and to get existing businesses to move to the region celebrates key milestone in just over a year
The Tech Welcome Grant was first announced in November 2022 as a trial scheme to get more tech businesses to invest in South Yorkshire. The idea behind it is simple: local tech start-ups looking for their first office and established companies looking to move to South Yorkshire can apply for up to £10,000.
Beneficiaries of the Tech Welcome Grant at 32 Eyre Street in Sheffield, photo courtesy of Barnsley Council
This money is in turn provided by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).
South Yorkshire offers a range of digital incubation units and managed workspaces for growing tech sector businesses. These include the Sheffield Technology Parks, BizSpace business centre and Cen2ury business hubs in Doncaster, and the two Digital Media Centres (DMCs) in Barnsley.
Tech companies seem keen to take advantage of these spaces – and the welcome grant funding.
In just a short period, and while still in trial form, the initiative has marked the 100th job brought to the region. Its current funding is enough to bring a total of 141 jobs into the region, based on a sliding scale of financial support related to the number of jobs a given business will relocate into the area.
Makauley Barron, Tech Welcome Project Officer, says: ‘The scheme has seen all four areas of South Yorkshire benefit from the grant, establishing our region as a hub for tech and digital. We’ve seen a strong variety of companies move in, including robotics, 3D CAD design, data visualisation, and cyber security. The variation makes our region stronger and having hit the milestone of 100 job roles filled demonstrates the success.’
One beneficiary is Herd Consulting, a specialist business analysis and product management consultancy that recently moved to Wizu Workspace in Sheffield, bringing five new permanent jobs to the region.
Jamie Toyne, Founder and CEO of Herd Consulting, says: ‘We’re delighted to have found a home for our business in South Yorkshire, and we’re grateful of the support from the Tech Welcome Grant. Not only has it supported us financially to get office space and a place to collaborate, but as we look to expand our team by at least another ten hires over the year, we will see that support payment increase each month.
‘South Yorkshire is a great place to establish our highly specialist digital consultancy business, there’s a community feel for tech and digital here, and being welcomed into the region this way allows us to be part of that as we continue with our growth across the UK and further afield.’
For details on eligibility, what the grant will and won’t cover, and how the money is paid to businesses that successfully apply, see the Tech Welcome Grant website.
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