A company providing arable farmers with solutions to field cultivation problems is set for expansion following a £75,000 investment by Finance Yorkshire.
Cultivating Solutions develops and manufactures innovative cultivation equipment designed to increase crop yield and therefore profitability.
The Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire will be used by the Driffield-based company to develop a new cultivating drill, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of its cultivation equipment.
Richard Scholes launched Cultivating Solutions four years ago after working as an arable farmer himself and gaining experience in the innovative solutions required to deal with field cultivation problems.
The business employs 10 staff who design, fabricate and assemble a range of cultivation machines costing £10,000 to £100,000 for sale across the UK, through a dealer network, and direct to Denmark.
Richard said: “The investment by Finance Yorkshire allows us to move forward and expand our product range as well as giving us long term potential across mainland Europe.
“Over the years, arable farming has increasingly been operated on a much larger scale, and accuracy and attention to detail have become key to improving the growing conditions for a crop and therefore maximising the yield of the crop.”
Martin Overfield of Smailes Goldie Accountants in Hull introduced Cultivating Solutions to Finance Yorkshire and advised the company on the deal.
Ian Atkinson, Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager, said: “Richard has an impressive track record, building his business from scratch to a point where the company is well established with good prospects for growth through the expansion of its product range and export sales.”
To date, Finance Yorkshire has made 663 investments totalling over £83 million.
Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to meet their funding requirements for growth and development.
The project is supported financially by the European Union. It has attracted £30million investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme, £15million from UK Government and £45million match funding from the European Investment Bank.
