Entries by Wendy Ferris

Midlands businesses need urgent help with staff mental health after report details COVID impact

Media Release issued by the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot Small businesses across the Midlands need urgent help with improving wellbeing in the workplace after a new report showed COVID-19 is now a main factor in causing mental health absences from work. The Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP) is encouraging businesses to get in touch… Read more

NI research reports on SMEs

Two new reports have been published by the Department for Economy NI.  The research completed by Queen’s University Belfast provides insights on how Northern Ireland Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) have responded to environmental issues and on the digital transformation process of Northern Ireland small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The… Read more

Helping firms along the right road?

Over the last year businesses across the country have been supported by the government through the furlough scheme, loans and grants. But what effects have these schemes had on firms and how will this shape their performance in the future? It’s early days of course and the impacts of COVID-19 continue to be felt in… Read more

Episode 1 : How have SMEs fared during the pandemic?

In the first episode Lee Hopley is joined by Professor Stephen Roper, Director of the ERC, and Professor Mark Hart and Dr Vicki Belt, Deputy Directors at the ERC discussing  the ERC’s research into small and medium-sized enterprises, and particularly about what they have found out about how businesses have fared over the past year during… Read more

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : 2020 / 2021 Global Report

The world is currently in the grip of a devastating pandemic, COVID-19, which has been causing widespread negative health, social and economic impacts. There is a pressing need for careful, authoritative and evidence-based assessment of the pandemic’s impacts on levels of entrepreneurial activity across the world, as well as on attitudes and ambitions. The new… Read more

April 2021 Press Coverage

Liverpool News Daily: Social enterprises ‘can play a key role in UK recovery’  The Business Desk: Social enterprise vital to post-COVID-19 recovery Teesdale Mercury:  New survey into how rural business coped with crisis

Is Declining Dynamism to blame for our Productivity woes?

Over the past decade, we have seen a historic slowdown in productivity growth. While there is some cause for optimism based on the rapid adoption of tech during the pandemic, boosting productivity should still be the top priority for any government. After all, more than anything else, it is what determines wages and living standards…. Read more