AN accountancy firm aims to expand after accessing new funding.

Harlands Accountants has received a grant from the North East Business Support Fund (NEBSF).

Bosses at the company, based in Annfield Plain, near Consett, County Durham, say the backing will help increase its digital profile.

Darren Wingfield, head of digital and IT, said: “This funding has helped evolve our business enormously.

“One of the key things we help clients do is take control; control of their finances, their futures, their investments and their exit plans.

“We are a fast-paced company that takes the hassle out of handling accounts and provides a wealth of services to make sure a business is running efficiently.”

John Atkinson, business funding adviser for NBSL, which manages and administers the NEBSF funding, said he was delighted to see Harlands flourish.

He added: “It’s fantastic to see the funding having such an immediate impact.

“We need more firms to contact us; our entire reason for being is to make North-East businesses grow.”

The last iteration of the NEBSF, a two-and-a-half-year programme that ran until August 2015, approved investment of £2.5m, which funded projects in 2,500 businesses, created 650 jobs and safeguarded a number of others.

The new scheme allows businesses to access up to 35 per cent of funding towards projects costing between £3,000 and £8,000.

The NEBSF is part financed by the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.