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Case Study
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Innovation Vouchers scheme boosted
20th August 2009
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and the Northwest ERDF Programme have today announced the launch of the latest round of Innovation Vouchers with the news that 50 additional larger Vouchers will now be available to Northwest businesses.
In October 2008, with the support and investment of the Northwest ERDF programme, the NWDA launched the £4.1m scheme. The funding consists of £2m ERDF and £2.1 from the NWDA.
Today the NWDA and ERDF Programme have added 50 additional larger (£7,000) Vouchers to this latest round of the programme to help provide additional support during the current challenging economic conditions.
Innovation Vouchers are designed to encourage business owners, entrepreneurs and social enterprises to proactively engage with the Northwest knowledge base, including colleges and universities, to develop innovation and enhance business.
The Vouchers address the lack of interaction between businesses and the knowledge base by intervening to encourage SMEs, to work with the knowledge base by reducing the costs, and by brokering the contact between SMEs and the experts in our region.
Each Voucher, valued at up to £3,000 (250 available at the regular size in this round) includes the support to help ensure that many SMEs will continue to work with the knowledge base; in particular universities and further education.
The scheme aims to encourage 1,000 businesses in total to interact with the knowledge base; in particular universities and further education colleges across the Northwest over the next 2 years.
Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA said:
"The Innovation Voucher scheme continues to be hugely popular. With the current challenging economic conditions we have pulled together extra funding to create an additional 50 larger Vouchers to help support larger innovatory business solutions. Engaging SMEs with the region's reliable knowledge base to improve their competitiveness and productivity is a key focus for the Agency and we believe that partnerships formed during difficult economic times will inevitably create a stronger knowledge transfer base for future years."
Innovation Vouchers are released in rounds - the first 3 rounds attracted 728 applications for 500 Vouchers. Of these 342 belonged to the 3 priority sectors - Food & Drink, Creative & Digital Industries and Professional & Business Services.
The current round, commencing today covers 17 August 2009 - 28 August 2009. The next rounds will take place -
• 7 December 2009 - 4 January 2010
• 5 April 2010 - 30 April 2010
• 2 August 2010 - 27 August 2010
Alan Roff, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire and member of the ERDF Programme Monitoring Committee, said "I very much welcome this scheme which will help businesses to make use of the knowledge base of universities and other similar organisations. It should be particularly beneficial for smaller businesses as it will provide them with an excellent and easy method to gain access to university expertise in such areas as design, market development, product testing and research. In other similar Innovation Voucher schemes, more than 80% of SMEs come back to the knowledge provider for further work. It therefore provides an excellent way to provide long term benefits for NW businesses by making use of the research base available in our universities."
Innovation Vouchers are part of Solutions for Business, the Government's package of publicly funded business support designed to help companies start and grow. In May the NWDA awarded the 500th Innovation Voucher to help support and grow the Northwest economy, marking the mid-point of the programme.
Access to the Northwest scheme is available via Business Link
Northwest, the primary gateway for business support in the region.
To apply direct for a voucher
more information.
The NWDA is playing a crucial role in response to the current economic downturn, with a number of actions being taken to meet the needs of businesses during these challenging times.
To keep updated on the range of support being offered by the NWDA go to www.nwda.co.uk/supportingbusiness or for more information on business support visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest
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Notes to editors
For further information please contact Neil Roscoe, Senior Press Officer on 01925 400232 or mobile 07980 713282 or neil.roscoe@nwda.co.uk
For urgent out of hours press enquiries please call 01925 400259.
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Between 2007 and 2013 the Northwest of England will receive a total of £521million (dependent on exchange rate) from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Managed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), this funding will enhance the competitiveness of the region's economy by supporting growth in employment and enterprise.
Key targets for the NWOP include:
• Creating 26,700 net additional jobs by 2015
• Generating £1.17bn additional annual GVA by 2015
• Supporting a 25% reduction in addition CO2 emissions
generated by the ERDF Programme.
For further information visit www.erdfnw.co.uk
Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) leads the economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and is responsible for:
• Supporting business growth and encouraging investment
• Matching skills provision to employer needs
• Creating the conditions for economic growth
• Connecting the region through effective transport and
communication infrastructure
• Promoting the region's outstanding quality of life
