University of Plymouth to help businesses to grow following pandemic

Businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly can continue to access support from the University of Plymouth following a £3.4m grant fund from the European Regional Development Fund. 

The Acceleration Through Innovation 2 (ATI2) which is led by the University’s Research and Innovation department aims to help businesses across multiple sectors to grow through one-to-one support, consultancy and grant funding.

The scheme will run from now (April 3) until the end of 2022, the aim is to support businesses who are looking to increase innovation, growth and productivity.

The University has said that although the funding has arrived at a time of uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they are committed to offering advice to those who are looking beyond the current economic landscape.

Since the project launched in 2017, it has engaged over 580 businesses and awarded 48 innovation grants with a total value of £1m.

The second phase of funding will provide a further £500,000 worth of grants available.

Jo Hancock, programme manager, said: ‘This is an immensely challenging time for businesses and once we emerge from this situation, they are likely to need support more than ever.

‘So, it is fantastic that we have secured additional funding, enabling us to continue our work with small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

‘ATI2 will deliver high value, high impact interventions to SMEs with specific innovation needs that have the potential to lead to scalable and commercially viable new products, services or processes.’

David Crawford, managing director of The Big Beanbag Company, who have benefitted from the original ATI project said: ‘ATI’s offer is really different in that it is tailored to the individual requirements of the client.

‘Through ATI and the University of Plymouth, we now have a new product in the market which would not have existed if it wasn’t for their support.’