SMEs in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire can now benefit from fully funded University of Nottingham expertise through a programme which has been re-purposed to help businesses prepare for economic recovery following COVID-19.
Productivity Through Innovation, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via D2N2, gives SMEs within our region the opportunity to access the University’s postgraduates who work remotely for their organisation through 100-hour or 200-hour project placements.
Companies from any sector can receive strategic planning and operational insight in areas such as business continuity, future markets research, product development support, digital technologies, and digital marketing strategies.
Dr Megan Ronayne, Programme Manager, said: “Productivity Through Innovation was first launched last August, building on our highly-successful Postgraduate Placement Scheme which delivered over 1,000 placements for SMEs in the East Midlands, so we know this is a model that works for business.”
She added: “With the immediate challenges presented by COVID-19, but also now firmly thinking about economic recovery as we hopefully emerge from the pandemic, we wanted to give SMEs a high-impact, low-cost intervention to develop their organisation, enhance a project or take a fresh look at their business processes. Our postgraduate students are available to help firms navigate through this difficult period, and support their future planning by examining how innovation can enhance productivity.”
Productivity Through Innovation
SMEs can contact the University to propose projects that they would like assistance in delivering remotely. Dr Ronayne said: “Our postgraduates are highly intelligent but are generally not experienced in the world of business, so organisations need to have the capacity to manage the placement and time to answer questions and keep the project moving.
“Most businesses tend to schedule key weekly update calls with our students, who would typically spent 6 to 12 hours per week on their placement. The programme is extremely straightforward, though, and with a clear brief agreed at the start of the project we will find the student or students who can deliver the requirement.”
Productivity Through Innovation academic champion Professor Richard Kneller added: “Productivity, the ratio of outputs to inputs, has been an issue well before COVID-19, and research shows that in 2015 the D2N2 region had a productivity gap of more than £8.2 billion.
“Collaboration between academia and business has never been more important, and we are delighted to be able to offer SMEs additional support for improving firm-level productivity and growth during this extremely challenging time when minds will inevitably be focused on the present.”
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund is one of the five European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).
ERDF is focused on reducing economic disparities within and between EU member states by supporting economic growth, regeneration, and safeguarding jobs.
In England, the ERDF is managed by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government supports the UK Government’s growth priorities of rebalancing the economy and supporting key initiatives such as the Midlands Engine and the Northern Powerhouse.
