A FIRM of accountants and business advisers are celebrating after securing more than £110m of grant funding for clients.

Clive Owen & Co LLP, which has offices in Darlington, Durham and York, has seen increased demand for its grants experts over the last three years thanks to the launch of the national Regional Growth Fund and regional programmes such as Let’s Grow and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP grant schemes.

The firm has worked on all aspects of the grant application process for more than 70 local, national and global companies and has achieved a success rate of more than 90 per cent.

AV Dawson, based at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Park, secured £1.2m from the Regional Growth Fund for its Tees bio-freight terminal as part of its £10m expansion plans.

John Young, the company’s finance director, said: “The complex nature of the project required a real understanding of our organisation and the challenges we would face in delivering the project over a three year period.

“I’m delighted to say we are reaching its conclusion. The construction of our Tees Riverside Intermodal Park (TRIP) and completion of our quay extension has delivered a badly needed new port and rail infrastructure to Teesside.

“As a company we’re now starting to feel the benefits of this investment, which has been the biggest in our 76 year history, and it’s gratifying to see the regeneration of industrial land that had remained derelict for so many decades.

“The completion of our new automotive coil store will be the culmination of the project, taking our investment to in excess of £10m.

“Without the help and commitment of Neville Baldry and his team, it is difficult to imagine that we would have been successful. The work undertaken by Clive Owen in helping to deliver grant funding for the project has enabled the directors of AV Dawson to balance the commercial risk and invest for the future with confidence.”

Clive Owen has also worked on more than £5m worth of applications under the Let’s Grow scheme, with 21 successful bids in the North East. In Yorkshire, it has helped secure almost £1m for three companies via the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP scheme.

Businesses which have been supported have ranged from those with three employees to multi-national engineering and automotive companies. The company has worked with grant applicants in a wide range of sectors including pharmaceutical, engineering, steel, manufacturing, chemicals, oil and gas and digital technology.

Neville Baldry, grants partner at Clive Owen said: “The last three years have been exceptionally busy for us, and we’ve been delighted to secure some significant grants which have enabled companies to press ahead with their expansion plans.

“We welcome the launch of phase 2 of the North East Let’s Grow scheme and are looking forward to working with companies across the region to put together strong applications for funding from this programme, as well as continuing to support previous successful applicants with the drawdown of their grants.”