New European funding to boost British business

The funding will enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the East and the South East of England to benefit from a new programme of subsidised research and development support co-ordinated by Anglia Ruskin University.

The KEEP+ programme, which stands for Knowledge Exchange and Embed Partnerships, will connect SMEs to academic expertise and graduate talent, and will enable SMEs to develop and launch new products and services.

Led by Anglia Ruskin University, KEEP+ is a partnership that unites nine delivery partners: EELGA (East of England Local Government Association); University of Brighton; University Campus Suffolk; University of East Anglia; University of Essex; University of Greenwich; University of Hertfordshire; University of Kent and Norwich University of the Arts.

The programme will run for three years and will be open to SMEs registered and actively trading in the four Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas that cover: Cambridgeshire (Greater Cambridgeshire/Greater Peterborough (LEP), Hertfordshire (Hertfordshire LEP), Suffolk and Norfolk (New Anglia LEP) and Essex, Kent and East Sussex (South East LEP).  

Among the benefits available to local companies are: 12-week graduate innovation internships; three-way collaborative partnerships between businesses, graduate employees and academic experts, that typically last 12 months; and innovation networking events.

The innovation network events will bring innovative companies together with third sector organisations and charities, Local Authorities, and the NHS to explore how they could capitalise on the new market opportunities created by major societal challenges such as ageing and climate change.

KEEP+ follows on from the successful Low Carbon KEEP programme (also funded by the European Regional Development Fund) that created 85 new jobs and helped over 200 SMEs in the East of England increase their competitiveness, productivity and profits.  

Professor Roderick Watkins, Anglia Ruskin University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said: “Thanks to over £9m of ERDF funding, this new KEEP+ programme will deliver real and immediate benefits for regional businesses.

“We surveyed SMEs that took part in our previous Low Carbon KEEP programme and found that cost was the most significant barrier to innovation.  Two thirds said that they will need support with innovation in the next three years and this new programme will deliver that support by supplying personnel with the right skills and experience.”

SMEs that are interested in taking part in KEEP+ should email programme manager Carole Randall for further information carole.randall@anglia.ac.uk   

 

Anglia Ruskin University

·         Anglia Ruskin is an innovative, global university with over 39,000 students from 177 countries studying with us across four continents.

·         12 of our research areas across our five faculties were classed as world-leading by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014.

·         Our graduate prospects are among the best in the UK, with 9 out of 10 starting their career or in further study within six months.  3 out of 4 of our students secure professional jobs, outperforming most other graduates.

·         We have three main campuses, in Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough.

·         Students, businesses and partners benefit from our outstanding facilities; we’ve invested £122 million in our campuses over the last five years and will be investing £98 million over the next five years.

·         The geographic spread of the KEEP+ organisations that make up the Delivery Partnership enables us to provide focused and locally-led support to SMEs based across the 4 LEP areas.

·         The delivery partnership unites organisations that have significant experience in delivering locally-led innovation support projects aimed at SMEs. The partnership has an excellent track record of European Regional Development Fund project delivery to support local economic development and of working with Innovate UK, the national innovation agency.

·         The European Structural and Investment Funds programme provides funds to help local areas grow. The funds support investment in innovation, businesses, skills and employment and create jobs. Running from 2014 to 2020, there are three types of funds involved in the programme including European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supports research and innovation, small to medium sized enterprises and creation of a low carbon economy.

·         The ESIF is a national programme for which national government is responsible and the managing authority for ERDF is the Department for Communities and Local Government

·         Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) were set up in the coalition agreement 2011. The government committed to establishing local enterprise partnerships to replace the Regional Development Agencies. There are 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships across England. They are local business led partnerships between local authorities and businesses and play a central role in determining local economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive economic growth and the creation of local jobs. LEPs play a strategic role in the ESIF identifying what activities funding allocation should be spent on.

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For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 01245 68 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Jamie Forsyth on t: 01245 68 4716, e: jamie.forsyth@anglia.ac.uk

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