Brexit – the innovation bonus

Innovation is always risky. New technologies may not perform, or may take longer to develop than first anticipated. Customers may react negatively to new products or services and innovation may provoke a strong competitive response from competitors. Will uncertainty linked to the post-Brexit settlement increase or depress firms’ appetite for taking these innovation risks? It… Read more

Midlands Engine- Some faulty valves ?

ERC Deputy Director, Professor Mark Hart  undertook research for the Financial Times Special report  “High Growth Companies create jobs and wealth. How can we create more of them?” published 4th October. Data produced by the ERC for the annual UK Growth Dashboard, to be published next month, formed the basis for the chart used in the report.  … Read more

Business schools supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses across the UK.

Stephen Roper  was invited as an ISBE trustee to join the taskforce behind the latest Chartered ABS report on how business schools deliver value to local and regional economies. Professor Roper comments, “The CABS report highlights the valuable contribution business schools make to supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses across the UK. It is good to see… Read more

Migrants start more businesses and are more ambitious to grow

The impact of migration on the UK jobs market was a major theme of the Brexit debate. The effects of migration, despite their oversimplification in that debate, are, complex. Migrants may have taken jobs that would otherwise have gone to long-term UK residents and as a consequence helped create a climate of distrust in many… Read more

How can we fill the post-Brexit information gap for SMEs?

ERC’s research on High Growth Firms cited in Enterprise blog by James Tout of sector specialist Communications and Media company, Journalista. “Several recent studies, including groundbreaking research by our client the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), have shown big regional disparities in the numbers of high-growth firms, sometimes called ‘gazelle firms’, which create a disproportionately high number… Read more

LSBS small grants

Ten applications were received in response to this call. An evaluation committee of Stephen Roper, ERC/ WBS , Ian Drummond, BIS  and James Phipps, BIS considered the proposals using the agreed protocol (60 per cent for programme quality, 20 per cent for project team and cost) and agreed that five proposals should be funded as… Read more

ERC Reports for UKCES

ERC has been working with the UK Commission on Employment and Skills (UKCES) to assess the impact of human resources and human resource practices on SME growth and innovation. In ‘Innovation and HR practices in five professional service sectors’ we examine the impact of HR practices on firms’ innovation activity and productivity growth based on new… Read more

Boosting UK productivity with SME growth

Contributing 47 per cent of revenue to the UK economy, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a key role in boosting productivity – but need support to expand business and increase impact. A report published jointly by the Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), Goldman Sachs and the British Business Bank shows that SMEs are a key… Read more

Engage HEI 2016

Mark Hart , Deputy Director , ERC delivered the keynote speech “The role of universities in unlocking UK productivity” at  the 5th Engage HEI Conference  held at the University of Central Lancashire,  on May 19th 2016. Despite improving economic performance, the UK still has fundamental economic weaknesses that can be improved by effective business support. • Economic… Read more