The latest ERC Research Showcase event took place on 20th January at WBS at The Shard in London. As usual we had a busy and varied agenda, with the ERC team reporting on a selection of the research projects being undertaken at the Centre. In the morning we covered a range of topics including: The links… Read more

Innovate UK recently launched a new loan scheme to support research and innovation in UK firms. This scheme – originally conceived in the austerity years – aims to provide an alternative way of supporting innovation alongside the UK’s innovation grants and tax credits. The new loans also suggest a subtle change in emphasis in UK… Read more

ERC Roundtable at the 2017 Conservative Party Conference. The Enterprise Research Centre (ERC) hosted a private roundtable at the 2017 Conservative Party conference in Manchester, focusing on the theme of driving better innovation and productivity in UK SMEs. The discussion was particularly timely given that innovation has been placed at the heart of the Government’s… Read more

Business Dynamics and Productivity Mark Hart and Michael Anyadike-Danes, ERC Aston Business School contributed a chapter to the new OECD Publication Business Dynamics and Productivity. Abstract: Business dynamics plays an important role not only as a driver of job creation but also as an engine of reallocation and productivity growth. This book aims at providing… Read more

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

Launched on Small Business Saturday on 7th December 2024, the details of what the new Business Growth Service (Mk2) will provide for the small business sector across England has yet to be revealed, but we are assured it will not be long now. Under the previous Government, the business support landscape in England was weakened… Read more

The ERC’s latest State of Small Business Britain report has now been published. This year, to mark our 10-year anniversary, we’ve drawn together the insights from a decade of research on small business growth and productivity. We have used this to produce a manifesto for small business growth and productivity. You can access the report,… Read more

On a sunny morning on 16th June, we welcomed delegates back to The Shard for our first in-person ERC State of Small Business Britain conference since 2019. The conference, which was chaired this year by Lucy Armstrong, focused on the theme of the ‘triple transition’, or the question of how moves towards net zero and… Read more