The latest round of Brexit negotiations got off to a predictably bumpy start in the first few weeks after the summer break. Despite suggestions that Theresa May will use a speech in the Italian city of Florence this week to attempt to break the deadlock over the size of the so-called “divorce bill” of future… Read more

Today the 4th Annual ERC State of Small Business Britain conference takes place at WBS at the Shard.Welcoming a mix of delegates from the worlds of policy, research and business, this year the conference will focus on the theme of ‘driving innovation and growth’.  

The ERC delivered a seminar on 13th March at BEIS focusing on how the latest research and insights from the ERC might inform the proposals set out in the industrial strategy and help shape the post-Brexit economy. Three presentations covered the following themes: “How can we ensure Inclusive Innovation?” (Professor Stephen Roper); “High Performing Firms and… Read more

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

On Monday 12th October Professor Mark Hart, Deputy Director of the UK’s national Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) presented on the main successful entrepreneurship policies in the UK to an audience including Deputy Minister for Trade, MP’s  entrepreneurs and investors at the launch of the National Entrepreneurship plan at the beginning of  Oslo Innovation week.

Stephen Roper contributed to feature reports by CNBC on the German Mittelstand and some of the lessons for small and medium firms internationally. Hallmarks of many Mittelstand firms are their family ownership, their innovative activity and their niche market leadership.

Stephen Roper was invited to share the UK’s experience of using randomised controlled trials to test SME policy at an international conference in Taiwan. The presentation focussed on the operational issues of making randomised trials work for industrial policy testing stimulating significant debate among the international audience. A paper based on the conference presentation is being developed.

The Enterprise Research Centre invites applications for funding for Communities of Interest around specific research topics which can contribute to the evidence base on SME growth and development. Two grants of up to £4,000 each are available to fund research networking activity, workshops or seminars.                    … Read more