21 November 2019
The UK Government is funding a competition to test different approaches that will encourage SMEs to adopt productivity improvement technologies.
Muriel Cozier
The UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), along with Innovate UK, is providing grant funding totalling £2 million to encourage SMEs to adopt existing technologies that are proven to boost productivity. These technologies must support business and administrative functions such as payment practices, accountancy and human resources, customer relationship management software and supply chain management software. Projects can have total eligible costs of up to £400,000.
The first phase of the competition requires businesses to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) which will be assessed by a panel. Successful submissions will then be invited to apply for the full phase.
Projects must start on the 1 June 2020 and be completed by 28 February 2022. Project data must be shared with BEIS on completion so that it can carry out ‘evaluation activity.’
The government is particularly interested in proposals that cover themes such as adoption of technologies to tackle late payment and exploring issues facing firms with specific characteristics, such as family run businesses.
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 4 December 2019 at 12pm. More information can be found on the Government website.
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