Martin and Sarah Dyckhoff are at the vanguard of 3D printing technology that is set to be big business in the coming years. As a new business that has launched the first 3D printing retail consumer offer outside of London, marketing this unique selling point and new technology was a priority.

Martin and Sarah own both Cartridge World and, alongside Paul Hiscoe, 3D Print World and it is the latter that is looking to make waves in the world of 3D technology, as they explain. “We are a new business looking to tell a new story, so we need a significant amount of funding to be able to do that. We spoke to Buckinghamshire Business First’s (BBF) expert team and they guided us through all of the business support and funding that is available.”

This guidance lead them to receive a Velocity Growth Grant which has helped enormously with their marketing efforts. “As a result of the Velocity grant we have benefited from a full page advert in the local press and we’ve had our company car branded. As well as this, we were able to buy new computers, so the benefits have been substantial.”

One thing that puts people off when thinking of applying for funding is the application process and, as Martin and Sarah put it, “the horrible forms you have to fill in”. So, did having support from Buckinghamshire Business First make a difference is this regard? “Absolutely. BBF’s business support team led us through the Velocity grant process step-by-step which made it far easier to submit a successful application and receive the funds that we did.”