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Derry-based Global Equipment Spares Ltd (“GES”), is targeting increased export-led growth following new funding of £800,000 from Santander Business Banking. The new funding is in addition to £1.5 million in financing from the bank. GES is one of Northern Ireland's leading manufacturers and suppliers of abrasive wear plates and special steels for the global mining, construction, agriculture and recycling industries.

TPS Global Logistics, the award-winning Aylesford-based freight forwarding and logistics service provider, is moving into new, larger premises and hiring 20 new permanent members of staff. The move will enable the company to deal with growing business demand and comes after it received a funding package worth £600,000. The funding included £400,000 from Santander Business Banking and £200,000 from MacQuarie.

The home of the United States’ life sciences industry, Cambridge, Massachusetts, played host to twenty of the UK’s leading firms in the sector earlier this month as part of Santander UK’s latest trade mission.

SWG3, the internationally acclaimed arts and events venue located in Glasgow, is preparing for its first live music gig following significant expansion, which has seen the venue more than double in size.

Increasing demand for personalised treatments, an ageing population, the rise of new manufacturing technologies and ‘digital’ medicines (drugs with an ingestible sensor embedded in them), are some of the primary growth opportunities for UK pharmaceuticals companies according to a new report from Santander and manufacturing organisation EEF¹.

Local Gorseinon entrepreneur Sarfaz Ahmed is to open a new Premier convenience store in the West End area of the town following £170,000 in funding from Santander Business Banking. The new shop will be unique in the West End and offer local residents a wider variety of goods, improved offers and promotions.

Edinburgh-based True Build Trade Services Limited (“True Build”), a leading building and joinery business, has doubled the size of its workforce in its head office following funding from Santander Business Banking.

The Phoenix Cultural Centre has received £5,000 to fund community music workshops for people in Woking who lack confidence, resources or for other reasons may not be able to access music and all the benefits it can bring.

The Volunteer Centre Dorset’s Community Credit Scheme has received £5,000 to fund a gardening project growing fruit, vegetables and herbs, for homeless people and those on low incomes in Weymouth.

Santander employees from as far as Dartford, Essex and London came together in Milton Keynes last week to face off in a charity remake of the classic TV game show ‘It’s a Knockout’. The event was made up of a total of 285 employees in 32 teams, taking part in eight different challenges, including a basketball shootout, a chicken run and a human washing machine. This was all done in huge costumes and facing foam, water and other obstacles to raise money for Age UK and Barnardo’s.

The Senior Centre Castlemilk has received £5,000 to fund a series of evening ceramics and craft classes for its members in Castlemilk, Glasgow.

Child Action Northwest has received £5,000 to fund a part-time member of staff to work on the charity’s online counselling service aimed at supporting primary and secondary schools in Lancashire. The service will offer counselling sessions for young people aged seven to 15. 

Basingstoke-based Southern Communications, one of the leading telecoms and data solution providers for UK SMEs, is to target further acquisitions in the telecoms and digital sectors following an increase in existing debt facilities from a syndicate led by Santander Corporate & Commercial, alongside HSBC and Aviva Investors (“Aviva”).

Pink Rooster has received £5,000 to fund music and sound therapy sessions for people living with dementia, mental health and life limiting conditions in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

Cheshire-based Reaseheath College, one of the UK’s leading specialist agricultural and horticultural colleges, has secured a £15 million funding facility from the education division at Santander Corporate and Commercial to increase the number of courses it offers, expand its student accommodation portfolio and grow the college’s reputation both nationally and internationally.

• Average first-time buyers could save over £2,250 a year once on the property ladder compared to renting
• Londoners could make the biggest saving, as the average monthly rent is £289 higher than monthly mortgage payments
• Smallest differential between rent and mortgage payments is in the East of England at just £43 per month

Wigan-based Fleetsmart, one of the UK’s leading developers of hi-tech vehicle GPS tracking software for businesses, has doubled its office space in Wigan to cater for record demand for its products and services. The move, supported by a significant commercial mortgage from Santander Business Banking, will allow the firm to secure more contracts and employ additional staff.

Bechange has received £5,000 to fund support for families in Aylesham and the surrounding areas to develop their financial skills. Bechange is a Dover-based charity which provides communities with support in areas including skills development, finance and housing. The funding will enable Bechange to reach more people who are struggling with managing their finances and help prevent further families from slipping into financial difficulty. 

• Alec Daniels, 86, successfully sent a ‘controlled’ phishing email and breached a public WiFi hotspot in only 16 minutes 40 seconds 
• 41 per cent of people regularly use public WiFi hotspots to access the internet putting their online security at risk⁽²⁾
• 74 per cent of Britons have been targeted by scammers with phishing emails, smishing texts and vishing calls⁽³⁾ 

The Scottish Union of Supported Employment (SUSE) has received a £5,000 grant which will help provide free transport to enable its users to access its Edinburgh-based ‘Peer Support for Work’ Hub more easily.