GM Leaders pledge millions to support Rochdale and Salford companies

A further two Greater Manchester firms have secured investment to support their plans for growth from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). Deals worth a combined total of almost £1.6 million were given the green light by Greater Manchester Leaders and will enable the creation of more than 115 jobs in the city-region.

Kleeneze, a network marketing company which retails a range of household and beauty products via a network of independent distributors, have received a loan of £1.2 million to establish a warehousing and distribution centre in Rochdale. The investment will help to create 100 jobs in Rochdale in the North East of Greater Manchester.

Salford based Optimise Hiring secured an investment of £375,000 alongside additional private investment from Tech investor Paul Sweeney to fund the company’s ambitious expansion plans. Seventeen new jobs will be created at the company which provides cloud based software to firms looking to drive efficiencies in their recruitment process.

The investments were provided through Greater Manchester’s Investment Fund which offers debt and equity investments of between £0.5m and £5m to growing businesses in the region.

GMCA Lead member for Investment and Finance, Councillor Kieran Quinn, welcomed the investments. He said, ‘These show that the Combined Authority has become a vital player in the commercial finance market. More and more firms are looking to us to support their growth plans and of course we are only too happy to assist in the creation of more jobs and prosperity in the region.’

Michael Khatkar, Managing Director from Kleeneze said 'We are absolutely delighted, after being resident in the North-West for almost a decade now and in business for 93 years to be creating substantial employment opportunities in the Greater Manchester area. Our £1.2m loan from GMIF not only allows us to further expand our business but it will create life-long business associations in the area. We are proud of our business and proud to be creating solid futures for many people”.

Murali Goluguri, co-founder and CEO of OptimiseHiring.com. said “We are thrilled to have received this investment which we see as a massive vote of confidence in our product and the team. This gives us the opportunity to really drive forward our business plan and sets us well on the way to becoming the UK’s ‘go-to’ platform for any business