Multi-million pound Made Smarter fund extended for over 400 East Midlands SMEs

Growth Hubs have combined to win £3m of funding to help increase the skills and productivity of manufacturing businesses in the East Midlands.

Government will extend Made Smarter to the East Midlands as part of a programme which will be open to small and medium-sized firms in Leicester and Leicestershire. The funding will be used to help manufacturers boost productivity by implementing digital technology and improving leadership and management skills.

Made Smarter East Midlands aims to advise more than 400 small and medium-sized businesses, undertake 133 business assessments, provide intensive support to 70 businesses, and boost the leadership and management skills of 36 senior manufacturing leaders.

It will also help businesses implement more automation and take advantage of new technologies such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

• The benefits of new technology include:
• Reducing inefficiencies and cutting waste
• Increasing sales growth and new market opportunities
• Overcoming capacity and resource issues
• Boosting competitiveness
• Increasing resilience, agility and your ability to innovate.

Successful applicants will be able to secure match-funded grants of up to £20k. They will also work with specialists to devise tailored plans to develop and grow their businesses. This will help to create more high skilled jobs in the East Midlands programme area, which includes Leicester and Leicestershire.

Sonia Baigent, chair of the LLEP Business Board and Director of Assist Business Consulting Ltd, commented: “It’s excellent news that Leicester and Leicestershire will be working with neighbouring counties to help our SMEs increase their productivity and skills.

“Increasing productivity is a pillar of our region’s economic growth strategy, as is innovation - doing more with less through new-to-business initiatives.

“The vast majority of businesses in our area have fewer than 250 employees, so if we are to really increase productivity then we need to take full advantage of programmes such as Made Smarter and the help they offer in developing key sectors such as manufacturing.”

The East Midlands is home to 16,410 manufacturers. Made Smarter has already been running in the North East, West Midlands, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber. It has been estimated that the investment will help to generate £80m in additional productivity. This is based on data from previous programmes in other areas.

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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