Government Announces £8m Business Basics Fund to Boost England’s Small Firms
The new Business Basics Fund has been established to test new and innovative ways of supporting small businesses to take advantage of technologies and management practices, providing the tools and support required for success.
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.
Details about the funding available, the application process and further guidance can be accessed via IUK's online Innovation Funding Service at the following link:
https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/192/overview
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