It is reported that two Tees Valley businesses were hours away from being homeless until swift action by a business support team helped to put a roof over their heads.

As per report, Sign Art and Class Fundraising, neighbours in a Redcar business unit, were shocked when they arrived at work to discover that they had to quit the building that day as their landlords had gone into receivership.

Both companies are now heaving a huge sigh of relief after securing units at UK Steel Enterprise's Innovation Centre, on the Kirkleatham Business Park, in Redcar.

Mr Eddie Guy, who runs the signage company Sign Art with his son Mr Harry and wife Ms Kathy, said that "We still can't quite believe that we were able to move in so quickly. They design, manufacture and install bespoke signs, vehicle graphics, wall wraps, banners and print. It was a nightmare scenario for any small business, but we managed to keep the business running as normal and not let any customers down thanks to UK Steel Enterprises swift response."

Mr Simon Fulton and Mr Mark Simpson, who run Class Fundraising, had to move heavy pieces of printing equipment out of the building quickly and find a new home.

The company produces personalized fundraising items for schools and other organizations in the UK and across Europe, including tea-towels, Christmas cards and mugs.

Mr Fulton said that "We are gearing up for our busy Christmas period so we were particularly worried. We did look at a couple of other business premises but we would have needed to start from scratch and the Innovation Centre not only gave us more space but the phone, internet and everything we needed was there for us in a day. UK Steel Enterprise pulled out all the stops for us without any hesitation and we are very grateful to them and to the other tenants who helped us. We are really looking forward to growing our business here."

Mr Nick Johnson of UK Steel Enterprise said that "This was a real emergency for these companies and we were determined to get them moved in straight away to avoid disruption to their businesses. Our centers are designed to support new and growing businesses so we appreciated how speed was vital for them. There is a real business community here so I wasn't at all surprised that other tenants came forward to lend a hand."

(Sourced from www.thenorthernecho.co.uk)