Michelin’s Ballymena business fund now over £1 million mark

Since the Michelin Development Ballymena loans fund was launched in 2004, over 300 jobs have potentially been created. Businesses in Ballymena and the surrounding regions have also benefited from over 280 days of advice and expertise from Michelin’s in-house team.

The latest company to benefit from Michelin Development’s cash assistance and advice is Moorings Mediquip, which recently received a £25,000 loan from the fund. The Ballymena based company - which designs, develops and manufactures specialist walking aids for children with cerebal palsy - used the loan cash to invest into expanding their on-site manufacturing facility, resulting in increased production to meet market demands.

It’s paid off handsomely as Moorings Mediquip expands into new international markets in USA, Canada, Australia, England, Norway and Sweden, alongside their traditional markets in Scotland and Ireland. The demand for their award-winning Buddy Roamer - including being shortlisted for an Irish Times Innovation Award - has seen the company recruit a new full-time production manager, with plans to employ more staff in the future.

Alistair MacCorkell, Moorings Mediquip’s Operations Manager, said: “The loan from Michelin Development came at just the right time for us as we were preparing to expand the business. The cash enabled us to ramp up production, buy new stock and launch new upgraded versions of our product.

“As well as the financial assistance, the advice and expertise provided by Michelin Development has proved really valuable. They are able to call on many different departments within the Michelin company and in doing so were able to help us with specific manufacturing and production issues allowing us to push things forward and ramp up production.”

Moorings Mediquip began over twenty years ago as a new start-up business operating from a domestic property owned by Alistair’s father Girvan MacCorkell, who remains as the company’s Managing Director. Starting out as a purely distribution business, the move into manufacturing has precipitated the expansion of the company, with the award-winning Buddy Roamer now made on site and sold to health boards, charities and schools. The Buddy Roamer, a walking aid that

provides postural support and helps with a child’s mobility, has won a number of awards including most recently the InterTradeIreland Fusion Innovation Project of the Year.

Cecil Caldwell, Michelin Development’s Ballymena Business Development Manager, said: “We are very pleased to see the fund go past the £1m mark in approved loans but more importantly we are extremely proud to have supported the creation of 300 jobs in the region.

“By helping forward thinking progressive companies like Moorings Mediquip, Michelin Development can play its part in injecting a vibrancy and sustainability to the regional economy. In turn this will help create a climate in which other start-ups and enterprises can flourish, encouraging investment into the region and creating jobs.”

Michelin Development Ltd is dedicated to helping small and medium sized businesses that can create new employment in the areas of the UK, including North Staffordshire, East Lancashire, Dundee and Ballymena, where Michelin has present or historic links with the community. The UK operation, which is part of a European initiative to support entrepreneurs and a cornerstone of Michelin’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, helps expanding businesses through the offer of unsecured loans at Bank of England base rate (through the Royal Bank of Scotland) and the provision of free business advice.

Since it was formed in the UK, Michelin Development has helped over 140 new enterprises in industries as varied as as engineering, construction, IT and fine china. Michelin Development in the next year is looking to make further loans available and help even more companies create jobs. Interested parties should refer to www.michelindevelopment.co.uk to see how to qualify.