Northumberland, UK based knitwear start-up KnitLab North has announced further funding and expansion plans. The North East knitwear design and make studio has won a £30,000 grant from the Rural Growth Network, local news website Bdaily News reported today.

Two British knitwear industry entrepreneurs Jo Lennon and Jo Storie created the knitwear design studio last year via a Crowdfunder, with the facility to support their clients with prototyping and micro-production.

The grant will enable the company to purchase machinery enabling it to offer the latest in sustainable prototyping for the knitwear industry. “The £30k funding has helped contribute to the £100k we raised as a business in this first round of funding and plays an important part in the growth of KnitLab North,” Jo Lennon, commercial development lead at KnitLab North, said. “We want to help support anyone looking to create knitwear – whether it is students, start-ups or professionals and to really champion British design.”

Jo Storie added: “The grant that we received was a huge boost to assist our own efforts to raise enough money to purchase the machinery we needed. We’ve been through the design and development process in the UK and we struggled to find the support we needed to make small volumes to test the market. We experienced a number of challenges and want to support other people who may face the same barriers we faced when taking their product to market.”

“We want to create a hub by bringing the industry together and to foster talent. There is a real skills gap, and our goal is not just to prototype but to educate and inspire the future generation,” Jo concluded.

Further reading

UK entrepreneurs launch Crowdfunder to grow KnitLab North