Pictured above: (l-r) Tony Cove, Business Manager RBS; Tim Jones, managing director, Wunderbars; Adam Grant, business development manager, BCRS 

The Sandwell Business Loan Fund has helped a team of entrepreneurs relocate to the Black Country to grow their business. 

Wunderbars, based in Cradley Heath, relocated from Tamworth to the Broadwyn Trading Estate on Waterfall Lane. The company, formed in January 2009, have invented and patented a device, Wunderbars, to keep canvas based pictures stretched.

Managing director Tim Jones was a supplier of picture framing equipment when he met with brothers and co directors David and Wayne Gill, who made traditional canvas stretcher bars for the picture framing industry. 

"We were supplying frames to a photographer who supplies images to upmarket hotel chains", says Tim. "He'd been putting printed canvases in bathrooms, but canvas goes slack in humidity. So we looked at ways of keeping canvas prints taut in different conditions. We thought about it over the weekend, made the machine to cut the joint on Monday, within two weeks had the prototype sorted, and the following week had the patent in!"

Wunderbars' main client is Fuji. "About five years ago, I went to Fuji Film in Belgium with a device to stretch canvas", says Tim. "They didn't take it at that time, but I kept in touch with my contact there.  He recently asked if we made stretcher bars. I told him about "Wunderbars" and he asked for samples for a trade show in Belgium. The result was we blew the competition out of the water. I then took a frame constructed with the new part to Fuji Film in Bedford - they dropped it, attempted to pull it apart - and placed an order. It's snowballed from there. We now supply the UK, Sweden and Belgium through Fuji." 

Wunderbars' five staff are all originally from Cradley Heath. "We moved back because it's home, but also all of our suppliers are here", says David. "We even get our saw blades sharpened across the road. We're in the heart of a manufacturing area where making things is still very much going on - in other parts of the UK, it's crumbled. When we need to recruit, there's a pool of skilled people here. Black Country people have manufacturing in their blood, so the people we bring in are very resourceful and aren't shy of hard work.

"We source as locally as possible and manufacture Wunderbars from Scandinavian pine from a UK mill. The components in the expansion cartridge come from around the corner and the wood is machined on the premises. The frames are then assembled manually here. Even our boxes are made in Lye."

Sandwell Business Loan Fund is available to Sandwell based businesses with loans of between £10,000 and £50,000 and is managed by BCRS. 

"We heard about BCRS and Sandwell Council's fund from C4's Dispatches television programme", said Tim. "Becky, our company secretary, found BCRS online and the rest was a smooth process. We borrowed £50,000 to relocate and to increase stock, lease machinery and take on staff.  We've all made personal investments as well. Tony Cove, our business manager at RBS has been brilliant; he gave us regular advice, helped with our start-up plan and sorted our factoring agreement. Then Adam Grant at BCRS completed the picture. He instantly saw the potential in Wunderbars. The Sandwell Business Loan Fund is another great reason to be in the Black Country."

'I have been working with the directors of Wunderbars since their early days and have supported them with specifically tailored financial packages including a start-up loan, factoring and Lombard facilities", says Tony Cove, business manager at RBS. "They are a great example of how a business can be successful in this difficult financial climate and the additional support they are now receiving through BCRS is great news. These new facilities together with the on-going support of RBS will make sure they continue to prosper and grow."

Adam Grant, business development manager at BCRS said, "We're delighted to assist Wunderbars at this crucial time in their growth. They've invented a very effective device that will revolutionise a huge industry and it's no surprise that a major international company like Fuji has seized upon it. They're a typical innovative Black Country company who could see how a simple, smart widget vastly improves a standard process. The Black Country built the industrialised world on such thinking and BCRS are committed to ensuring that continues."  

"We now have three times as much space here to ramp up", concludes Tim. "We are now trialling Wunderbars in large retail chains through Fuji and Jessop's and we're exporting, in addition to developing new product using Wunderbars."