Back to newsYorkshire engineering start-up ProtoGT wins £5,000 OSBF Opportunity Grant
Sheffield-based engineering business ProtoGT has been named the winner of the inaugural OSBF Opportunity Grant, receiving £5,000 to support the next stage of its growth.
ProtoGT was selected from almost 100 applications from ambitious businesses across Yorkshire, spanning sectors from technology and manufacturing to hospitality, health and fitness.
Founded by University of Sheffield engineering students Edward George and William Toms, ProtoGT has grown from an operation run out of student accommodation into a city-centre engineering business designing, building and testing custom systems and prototypes for clients across a range of industries.
The business impressed the judging team at One Stop Business Finance (OSBF) with the ambition of its founders, the progress it has already made and the wider contribution it could make to Yorkshire’s economy as it grows.
ProtoGT gives businesses flexible access to a multidisciplinary engineering team, helping them turn early-stage ideas into tested products without the cost and delay of building that capability internally. As ProtoGT grows, that creates the potential for its success to support innovation and growth across other businesses in the region.
Ed and Will are also already investing back into Yorkshire’s future engineering talent by creating paid opportunities for students and young engineers to gain practical experience working on live commercial projects.
Backing business potential
One Stop Business Finance was founded in Yorkshire in 2014 with the aim of giving SMEs access to responsible, flexible funding built around the realities of running a business.
Today, OSBF provides commercial finance to SMEs across England and Wales, with its own-book lending ranging from £100,000 to £3 million across working capital, revolving credit, bridging and development funding.
Central to the business is a deliberately human approach to lending. Rather than relying on standardised criteria alone, OSBF’s experienced team takes the time to understand the story, circumstances, ambitions and potential behind each business before making a decision.
That same philosophy led to the creation of the OSBF Opportunity Grant. The £5,000 grant was designed to put the company’s belief in backing business potential into practice, providing one Yorkshire SME with funding that carries no repayment obligation.
Andrew Mackenzie, Managing Director of One Stop Business Finance, said:
“When we launched the Opportunity Grant, we wanted to put some of the principles we apply every day at OSBF into action in a different way.
“Our business has always been built around taking the time to understand what sits behind the numbers. Of course risk matters, but we also believe it’s important to recognise potential and what a business could achieve with the right backing.
“That’s exactly what we saw in ProtoGT.
“Ed and Will made an impression on us immediately. What they’ve achieved at such an early stage of their careers is remarkable, but what really excited us was the potential impact of what they’re building.
“ProtoGT’s growth doesn’t just benefit ProtoGT. Their expertise can help other businesses turn ideas into reality and solve engineering challenges. As they grow, there’s a real opportunity for them to play a part in the success of other businesses across Yorkshire too.
“They’re also already creating opportunities for engineering students and other young engineers in the region. At a time when young people can find it increasingly difficult to access high-quality employment opportunities, this particularly caught our eye and aligns strongly with our own commitment to creating new career opportunities.
“We came away from our conversation genuinely excited about where ProtoGT could go next. This grant was always about backing potential, and we’re delighted to play a small part in helping them realise theirs.”
Building a specialist engineering business
ProtoGT specialises in electronic engineering, supported by in-house mechanical design, software development and systems integration, allowing complete prototypes to be designed and built by one team.
The company has supported innovation across medical technology, agritech and the UK rail industry, helping clients rapidly develop and test new products and systems.
As the business has grown, ProtoGT has benefited from Sheffield’s wider business community, gaining valuable connections, commercial support and access to a broad network of local expertise.
Ed George and Will Toms, co-founders of ProtoGT, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to have been awarded the OSBF Opportunity Grant, which reflects the progress ProtoGT has made as a growing and profitable engineering business. The OSBF team made the effort to truly understand our business, recognise the impact we have made for our clients so far and share our vision to grow ProtoGT into a driving force for UK innovation.
“We will use the £5,000 to invest in additional commercial engineering software, expanding our capabilities further, strengthen our sales systems and expand our marketing. This will help us support even more innovative businesses and create additional paid opportunities for students and young engineers in Yorkshire as we continue building ProtoGT.”
The Opportunity Grant was launched by OSBF earlier this year against a challenging backdrop for SMEs, with businesses continuing to contend with rising costs, tighter cashflow and wider economic uncertainty.
It followed a belief within OSBF that conversations around SMEs can focus too heavily on risk and not enough on the potential of good businesses when they receive the right support.
Andrew added:
“The quality of the applications reinforced something we see every day. There is no shortage of ambition among Yorkshire businesses.
“With almost 100 applicants, choosing one winner was extremely difficult, but ProtoGT represents exactly what we hoped to find when we launched the grant: a promising business with ambitious people behind it and the potential to create opportunities beyond its own four walls.
“Our job now is to follow their progress and hopefully demonstrate what can happen when a good business gets the right backing at the right moment.”
OSBF plans to revisit ProtoGT in the coming months to see how the £5,000 has been used and the impact it has had on the business.
