LEADER Award for Enterprise

Wednesday evening was very special for us here at Northern Edge as we were invited along to Carnaby’s for a prize giving and event celebrating LEADER. We were thrilled to be recognised at the event with the Award for Enterprise - a very proud moment for us!

LEADER is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) and uses a community led approach to help fund rural and community projects. The grants, derived from EU funding, are aimed at small businesses, farmers, foresters and community projects that will help grow the local economy and create jobs.

Since 2014, the Northumberland Coast and Lowlands LEADER Programme has invested £1.769 million in our local area, supporting 60 businesses and helping to create 137 new jobs.

Back in 2017, Northern Edge Coffee was successfully awarded funding via the LEADER project. The money was put towards a new, larger coffee roaster to enable us to better meet demand and roast to a higher, more consistent quality, with the long term aim of supporting business growth and in turn the local economy.

Since the 12kg Probat roaster has been up and running, Northern Edge has gone from strength to strength. We have grown our team and been able to offer numerous jobs on a part and full time basis, nearly doubled the amount of outlets we supply to, moved to a much larger premises with an adjacent shop, and just this Spring we opened the doors on the Northern Edge Coffee Bar. All of this has benefits which feed directly back into the local community, and to further express our thanks to LEADER and support for the Berwick-upon-Tweed area we are always finding new ways to aid local business and individuals.

We can’t thank LEADER enough for their support. It has been a great helping hand in getting us to where we are today. Their support has aided in growing our business, stabilising us through uncertain political times, and, of course, has helped us bring the fantastic taste of Northern Edge to all our fine customers!