, and Leeds City Region. The project ends this year, so now is the time to speak to our team about your project and start your grant application!began in 2016, over £4.3m of grants have been awarded, supporting over 260 businesses. This has led to the creation of over 400 new products and over 550 new jobs. The project will come to an end in December 2022, with final grants being awarded in summer 2022.Sorted Media, trading as FYI, received a PAPI grant to help buy new machinery.
During 2020, the COVID-19 crisis had a huge impact on the hospitality sector, with many of FYI’s customers staying dormant for nearly 12 months. Customer demand for print services therefore changed and FYI saw an increase in demand for branded packaging for influencer marketing campaigns and direct to consumer activity, including bespoke packaging and labelling. Their clients, which included craft beer producers, had to shift their marketing activity to focus on at-home experiences.
FYI saw an opportunity to bring the design and print of their bespoke packaging in house in order to meet new consumer demand, maintain quality control and reduce product lead time. To do this, they needed to purchase a computer numerical control wide format digital cutting machine.
FYI were awarded a £20,000 PAPI grant to help with the purchase of the new machinery. The machine allowed the company to launch their new in-house bespoke packaging design and manufacturing using a range of materials including card, MDF and plastics. It also allowed them to create innovative new designs for their clients. Manufacturing in-house meant that FYI could quickly meet client’s needs, and respond quickly to emerging marketing trends.
Since purchasing the machinery and launching their new products, FYI have employed 6 new members of staff, and have seen an increase in sales.