Member Article

£8m boost for North East entrepreneurs

Funding possibilities for North East entrepreneurs have received a boost with the announcement of an £8m budget for One NorthEast’s Research and Development Grant Team. An extra £5m has been pledged from the European Regional Development Fund to add to an original £3m from the Department of Trade and Industry.

The increased finance is part of a push by One NorthEast to raise the numbers of small and medium-sized businesses in the region carrying out product research and development. The agency’s aim is to increase the North East’s productivity rate to 90% of the national average over the next decade. The grant specifically targets small and medium-sized companies to encourage them to undertake research they would otherwise not have pursued due to financial constraints.

Will Adams, head of the Research and Development Grant team, said: “Essentially the grant helps firms develop new innovative products and processes that have a technical advantage over competitors. “The North East has a long history in R and D and led the world in many industrial advances - but from that proud history the North East now finds itself with one of the lowest participation rates in commercial R and D in England. “We want to reverse this trend and rekindle the spirit of innovation and endeavour which made the North East foremost in industrial development, building up a knowledge base and foundation for growth from the region’s SME base.”

Peter Smith, Head of European Programmes at Government Office for the North East, said: “This is the latest part of a package of investments that European funding has supported in recent years to help the region’s smaller firms. “European funding is increasingly focused on helping firms to innovate and become more productive.”

The grant is aimed at firms with fewer than 250 employees already operating in the region or at individuals planning to start up their own company. The Research and Development Team has established a new e-mail address for enquiries - GRD@onenortheast.co.uk - and can be contacted by phone on 0191 229 6882.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .