27 October 2008

£4m Innovation Vouchers Scheme launched

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the Northwest ERDF Programme have today launched a new Innovation Voucher scheme to help support and grow the Northwest economy.

With the support and investment of the new ERDF programme, the NWDA will deliver the £4.1m scheme designed to encourage business to engage proactively with the Northwest knowledge base, including colleges and universities.  The funding consists of £2m ERDF and £2.1 from the NWDA.

Businesses need to innovate to remain competitive in the face of current global challenges. This project is a voucher scheme that will work with businesses who do not normally engage with the knowledge base (Further and Higher Education Institutions - FEI & HEI and the wider public sector), with the aim of resolving issues which would increase productivity and/or competitiveness. Many SMEs are not aware of the potential benefits of collaborating with the knowledge base and might not know how to access the expertise that is available to them in the region.

The Innovation Vouchers scheme addresses the lack of interaction by intervening to encourage SMEs, to work with the knowledge base by reducing the costs, and by brokering the contact between SMEs and the experts in our region. The voucher, valued at up to £3,000, and support should help to ensure that many SMEs will then continue to work with FEIs and HEIs long into the future.  

The scheme aims to encourage 1100 businesses to interact with the FEI’s and HEIs across the Northwest over the next 2 years. 

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA said:  “The Northwest has a rich and diverse knowledge base within public and private sectors so our businesses have local access to hundreds of experts in countless fields. We hope that by making introductions and taking out some initial costs to businesses we can encourage long-lasting, beneficial relationships.”

David Malpass, Director of European Programme at NWDA, said: “The voucher scheme is designed to encourage business to engage proactively with the knowledge base in our region and align with the Lisbon Strategy to make the EU ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy by 2010’. The Northwest scheme takes best practice from similar schemes already in operation in the West Midlands, Ireland and the Netherlands.”

Keith Burnley, Executive Director, North West Universities Association (NWUA), said: “Universities across the Northwest have a strong track record in working with businesses and resolving commercial problems. We hope this voucher scheme will encourage more small businesses to take advantage of the wealth of talent that is available to them within educational establishments in the region and together we can resolve business issues and drive productivity.”

The Innovation Voucher scheme is one of the Government’s recently announced Solutions for Business, the national package of 30 publicly funded business support products.  ‘Solution for Business - funded by government’ helps companies start, survive and succeed and makes government support simpler for business. Access to the Northwest scheme is available from today via Business Link Northwest, the primary gateway for business support in the region. Or to apply direct for a voucher go to www.nwda.co.uk/finance or email innovationvouchers@nwda.co.uk for more information.