TWO East Lancashire firms have spoken of their gratitude to a growth hub celebrating a positive mid-term report.

Latest figures show Boost has helped 2,888 businesses in the county to access support and has led to an estimated 291 new jobs since January 2016 when it secured £7.8million of funding.

In that time 119 businesses have been established and £3.5million of new economic activity has been generated.

Boost is led by the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

Among the firms to have been helped are Blackoak Surfacing of Nelson and Simply Doughnuts, based in Blackburn.

Five jobs were created and turnover soared at Blackoak, of Grafton Street, which supplies resurfacing works on car parks, roads and footpaths to both private and public sector organisations.

Set up in 2015 by Thomas Jordan and Chris Whiteoak, the company enrolled on to Boost’s growth mentoring programme. They were advised by mentors David Grant and Joanne Pickering.

Mr Jordan said: “The information and guidance provided by the mentors was invaluable to our business.

“Not only did Joanne help with the overview of employment practices, and necessary forms and procedures, she also discussed how to speak and communicate with staff to ensure we maintain a focused team.

“David’s experience and knowledge was vital in helping us to talk through our ideas and our plans for growth, to keep us on track and achieve our milestones in a sustainable way.”

Simply Doughnuts, of Ordnance Street, has created two new jobs and forecast a sales increase of £75,000 after support through the Lancashire Manufacturing Growth Fund.

Owner Shiraz Master, who received one-to-one sessions for 12 weeks, said: “The support helped to improve the overall performance and profitability of the business.

“We were able to identify where we had bottlenecks and seek solutions. We were also able to identify what we needed to do to maximise customer value while minimising waste.

“I feel my time spent with them was highly beneficial and has given me the support and motivation to continue growing my business.”

Cllr Michael Green, cabinet member for economic development, environment and planning at the county council, said: “We’re approaching the halfway point of the Boost funding period and these figures add up to a very positive mid-term report for the business growth hub.”