A grant of £85,000 has helped award-winning ecommerce website developers Purpose Media expand its business and will create 10 new jobs.

The on-line marketing specialists received the grant from D2N2’s Unlocking Investment for Growth (UI4G) programme, which together with the company’s own investment has facilitated the purchase of 2,200sq ft of new office space adjacent to its current premises at The Village Business Park, South Normanton.

The new unit will become the production facility for the website developers to work together and the existing premises will become customer facing, with meeting rooms and demonstration rooms especially redesigned and refitted. The additional space will provide much-needed room for expansion and provide local career opportunities for another ten people over the next 12 months.

Matt Wheatcroft, pictured, managing director of Purpose Media, who was voted entrepreneur of the year in 2013, said: “The demand for online solutions continues to accelerate and with this, so has the demand for our services.

“Our need to accommodate an increasing number of specialist and support staff meant that we very quickly outgrew our current premises. Access to the grant has had a significant impact on our business. I am thrilled with how well everything is going.”

The D2N2 UI4G programme is funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. UI4G grant awards are given by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership investment panel. The aim of the fund is to create long-term sustainable jobs.