The Government has announced details of a new £8 million fund, designed to improve the productivity and performance of small businesses in England.
Boosting national productivity and increasing workers’ earning power forms a key part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. To address the country's productivity challenge, the Industrial Strategy focuses on the five foundations of productivity:
- Ideas
- People
- Infrastructure
- Business environment
The Business Basics Fund, operated by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in partnership with Innovate UK (IUK), will help businesses, charities, trade bodies and public sector organisations to support small businesses in adopting tried and tested technologies and management techniques. The aim is to unlock £100 billion of untapped benefit to the economy.
Once the projects are launched, the Government will then work with leading experts to evaluate the effectiveness of each project in boosting productivity, helping to inform future policies.
The programme will have a total budget of £8 million over its lifetime. There will be a total of £2 million available in the first call.
Small Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:
"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, with more than 1,000 new businesses starting up every day, and it is vital that we support them to grow through our modern Industrial Strategy.
"The Business Basics Fund will test new and innovative ways of supporting small businesses to take advantage of technologies and management practices – giving small business leaders the tools and support they need to continue to thrive."
Details about the funding available, the application process and further guidance can be accessed via IUK's online Innovation Funding Service.