Family-run Kenilworth business is cleaning up after securing funding to extend its services

From the left, Ted and Kate Hunter (Bear Cleaning), Martin Nwangwa (CWLEP Growth Hub), Alexander Vill (CWRT), Cllr Kam Kaur (Warwickshire County Council) and Sarah Windrum (CWLEP)

A family-run business in Kenilworth can now clean up across Warwickshire after it secured a grant and a loan to buy a new truck.

Bear Cleaning was launched by former Warwickshire police officer Ted Hunter and his wife Kate, who was a social worker, in 2017.

The business focuses on cleaning roofs, driveways, patios, gutters and wheelie bins for domestic properties in Warwick district, Southam, Cawston and parts of Coventry.

It also provides jet washing, gutter clearance, steam cleaning and bin cleaning for the commercial sector in Warwickshire and the West Midlands.

Ted spotted an opportunity to complement the existing collection services provided by district and borough councils and increase the range of options for collection for customers.

After meeting Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) chair Sarah Windrum through a peer-to-peer networking programme, she put Kate in touch with the CWLEP Growth Hub, who advised her to talk to the team at the Coventry & Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust (CWRT).

They recommended Bear Cleaning should apply to the Duplex Investment Fund, which is a combined grant and loan initiative jointly managed by CWLEP, CWRT, Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council.

The project is being funded by £3.9 million of grants from the Government’s Local Growth Fund and the Growing Places Fund, distributed and managed by CWLEP.

The county and city councils have both invested a further £2 million in the scheme.

Kate successfully applied for a £41,500 loan and £16,600 grant from the scheme to buy the new 3.5 tonne truck to provide the service in Warwick and Stratford.

And the business is now recruiting a fourth member of staff to help cover demand.

Kate said: “We now have our new vehicle and we’re ready to go.

"There was a lot of information and due diligence required but it really helped to formalise our business plans and we are really grateful to have received this valuable funding.”

Sarah Windrum added: “One of our main objectives is to boost our area’s economy, which means creating the right environment for innovation and enterprise to flourish.

"Bear Cleaning highlights that.”