When it comes to climate change, most attention is placed on the need for action by governments, big business, and individual householders. There are nearly 6 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, employing 16.8 million people, yet they attract far less scrutiny for their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and tend to… Read more
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
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
Published this morning read the latest ERC Research paper and Blog looking at how UK COVID-19 emergency public support measures, furlough funding and loan guarantees during the pandemic have influenced firms’ future investment intentions and employee wellbeing. Click here for the Research paper Click here for the blog
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
The National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) is asking rural and farming businesses in the North East, South West and Midlands how they are dealing with COVID-19 to explore the lesser-known area of rural resilience. There is little research about how small firms in rural areas manage crises and how they recover so NICRE… Read more
2020 was a terrible year for UK trade. Overall, UK exports in goods contracted by almost 15%, down by £54.5 bln[i] in the twelve-month period, this is even worse than the contraction seen in the UK economy as a whole, which was just under 10% in GDP terms. [ii] Furthermore, the early 2021 bilateral trade… Read more
In a report published today research conducted by UK Research and Innovation found that only 56% of UK businesses across six foundation industry sectors introduced new products and 53% new processes in the last three years, namely metals, paper, chemicals, glass, ceramics and cement companies. UKRI commissioned the Enterprise Research Centre to undertake the research as… Read more
Climbing a mountain, travelling North or spending time near the sea we all become aware of differences in the climate. In some places configurations of landscape create specific micro-climates, which create conditions of warmth or shelter allowing plants and gardens to flourish. Recent research suggests that business innovation may work in a similar way, with… Read more
