Government announce £30m R&D funding to help manufacturers

Government Announce New £30m R&D Funding to Help Manufacturers go Digital.

Manufacturers are looking into digital technologies as a way of upgrading their productivity and competitiveness, and can now bid for a new layer of government funding. In what was one of Greg Clark’s final acts as Business Secretary (before the role was taken over by Andrea Leadsom) he announced the £30m R&D competition to boost the drive for digital transformation of UK manufacturing.

This competition is open to businesses that have ambitious strategies to renovate and develop their manufacturing processes by using new industrial technologies. For example data analytics, immersive technologies, connected environments and the Internet of Things, according to BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy).

Clark said: “We want to support companies of all sizes who want to develop new digital capabilities, and will support projects that will help ensure the UK remains at the forefront of technological developments.”

Key Facts:

• Manufacturers are looking into digital technologies as a way of upgrading their productivity and competitiveness, and can now bid for a new layer of government funding.
• This competition is open to businesses that have ambitious strategies to renovate and develop their manufacturing processes by using new industrial technologies.

The funding will come from the Made Smarter Challenge, the funding is projected to have benefits such as improved productivity and revenues, increased export sales, job creation, and upskilled and/ or retained workforce, greater supply chain integration, and reduced environmental impact.

11 businesses located in the North West have joined the 24 other businesses who have been given funding up to now. The Made Smarter business support programme could provide a further £13m in gross value added (GVA) in the North West economy for these 11 businesses alone over the next three years.

Juergen Maiers CBE, Siemans UK CEO and Co-Chair of the Made Smarter Commission stated: “In a recent study, we found that 90% of manufacturers believe the sector will transform fundamentally by 2021. Technology has always been the bedrock of the manufacturing industry; it is essential that organisations continue to embrace innovation and the new possibilities that technologies like automation, robotics, quantum inspired optimisation, and inter-connected devices.”

Chris Hill acts as commercial partner for both corporate and non-corporate clients and has worked for Hawsons throughout his career. For more information or advice on anything covered in this article, please contact Chris on cih@hawsons.co.uk or 0114 266 7141.