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Top notch: Mark Eggleston, managing director of WJ Components, with some of the roof trusses which the company makes for static caravans

The story of how one local firm has been helped through the recession – and diversify into new products – with help from Hull City Council's Acorn Fund

When you see a caravan do you notice the roof trusses? Probably not.
But it's a safe bet that employees of WJ Components Ltd do.
These are the products from which they make a living – producing them from a small workshop on Stoneferry industrial estate.
However, like other businesses in the local caravan industry and beyond, the company felt the pinch of the economic recession.
At the end of last year a large caravan manufacturer, one of its main customers, cancelled orders.
Fortunately, managing director Mark Eggleston saw an opportunity to diversify into supplying other products to the caravan industry.
With the demise of another supplier, he saw the opportunity to move in on the market for flues (for caravan water heaters) and for chair and table bases (for caravan living areas).
With support from Hull City Council's Acorn Fund, the company was able to buy equipment including drills, a hydraulic press and bending machinery in order to make the new products.
"We had to react quickly otherwise rival companies from outside the Hull area would have come along and started supplying these products," says Mark.
"I was really impressed with how soon the council made the decision about giving us funding.
It was a matter of weeks rather than months – and it got us up and running very quickly.
"By diversifying into new products we've even helped some of our existing customers, because some of their other suppliers had disappeared from the market overnight."
As a result of help from the Acorn Fund, the company was also able to create three new jobs.

About the Acorn Fund

The fund has supported more than 600 small-to-medium-sized fledgling businesses in the Hull area by providing one-off grants and loans.
It generally provides one-off grants of £2,500, and loans of up to £15,000, although there is some flexibility depending on the business and the economic situation of the time.
It helps job-creating businesses, based within the postcode areas of HU1 to HU9 that struggle to get funds from traditional sources such as banks.
"We're committed to helping those people who have a viable business proposition and whose projects have the potential to create new jobs in the city of Hull," says Peter Sykes, funding manager at Hull's Chamber of Commerce, which is responsible for managing the fund.
"If you're thinking of starting a business or have an existing business, but are struggling to raise the required funding for capital purchases from conventional sources, then we may be able to help you."

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For more information about the Acorn Fund visit www.hullbdf.com or call 300300.