Over 40% of UK’s small and medium-sized firms report COVID-related hit to turnover, while 3 in 10 forced to cut jobs Around 200,000 firms could be close to collapse based on analysis of those trading insolvently or running out of cash But a fifth of firms report positive impacts from the pandemic, with many embracing… Read more

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

Innovation is good isn’t it? We all love exciting new products or services which are useful and add value to our lives. For firms too innovation can be good for attracting new customers and increasing profits. But what happens when innovation goes wrong? We have all experienced this. Think about the last time you tried… Read more

The opening plenary at the ISBE conference started with  a welcome by the Aston University VC Aleks Subic and the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. Mark Hart then chaired the opening plenary which started with a fireside chat with Richard Harpin (Founder & Chairman at HomeServe and Growth Partner) exploring his views on building a… Read more

The Department for Business and Trade and the ERC co-hosted an event at The Shard on 16th November to showcase new findings and analysis of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey. The event began with an overview of the key findings from the 2022 survey, followed by some headlines from the latest panel report which reports… Read more

Building better business health: what can we learn from public health campaigns? The continuing productivity gap between the UK and its international competitors has focussed attention on the competitiveness of UK firms. So how can we boost the health and vitality of UK businesses? Or, more accurately, how can we encourage businesses themselves to take… Read more