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Invest to Grow Funding: Fostering University and Business Collaboration

As businesses start the process of recovery and opening after the Covid-19 disruptions, Mark Wheddon, Head of Delivery for Invest to Grow at the University of Derby, reflects on what support the programme has been able to offer them during this period.

Adapting to New Ways of Working

The University’s Invest to Grow programme has been operating for over five years and in that time has made 230 awards, totalling £26.1m to businesses across the East Midlands region. This has seen more than 1,900 full time jobs created and safeguarded so far, with £98m of private sector funding injected into the East Midlands economy.

Over the last few months, many of the businesses we have supported have been affected by lockdown and disruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis. They are facing serious challenges with the cancellation of a large volume of current orders by customers, significant drops in turnover, the furloughing of staff, considerations about how to safely reopen, and how to adapt or diversify their product or service offer, alongside business cash flow constraints.

Invest to Grow has been supporting businesses during this period by accommodating immediate loan repayment holidays and reprofiling of their loans. We’ve also been signposting them to the government support available and where possible linking them up with additional support available from the University. We continue to listen to businesses about how they are coping with COVID 19 disruptions and how the University can support their requirements to safely rebuild, restart and reopen.

Discovering What the University Can Offer Businesses

Invest to Grow is still open to new applications and encouragingly we are still receiving new proposals for funding from businesses where they are ready to invest and start the process of reopening and rebuilding following the COVID 19 disruptions.

Many of the SMEs supported may not have immediately thought of coming to the University for business support, but through engagement with Invest to Grow we are then able to maximise these opportunities and refer these businesses on to other colleagues and business support functions. In many cases, the scheme operates as an enabler and introducer to businesses for the commercial offers from the University that businesses may be unaware of.

How it Works

For example, RDS Global Ltd, based in Derby, received ITG funding towards the upgrade of their premises and for a second project for the development of a cyber audit portal. The project enabled clients to self-assess compliance with the government’s Cyber Essentials Certification and also the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The company continued to work with the University, undertaking a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project and developing a work placement programme, providing internship opportunities for students. In addition, RDS Global also received support from the University’s Enscite project, including guidance on how to market its new product.

So, as the recovery from COVID 19 starts, with businesses facing a very challenging period ahead, the programme continues to provide support with growth and investment plans across the key growth sectors in the region and we are still open for new applications.

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