Our team has expanded…again!

As an ever-expanding department, we are excited to welcome our newest member of the team; Chrissy Boulton.

Chrissy has joined us as a Graduate Scheme Development Coordinator, supporting the development of an innovative new graduate programme scheme being piloted by the University of Reading, which will be aimed at supporting companies within Reading and the Thames Valley. The scheme is being developed and delivered in collaboration with our partners at Hireserve, a locally based SME and a company we have formerly collaborated with in the Knowledge Transfer Centre.

Chrissy will play an essential role in supporting development of the pilot, and is a very welcome new member to the KTC family.

TVBLEP announce their award winning funding escalator increase to £11.3m!

In 2013, Thames Valley Berkshire LEP invested nearly half its Growing Places Fund to create the TVB Funding Escalator to help local high-growth businesses. Managed by The FSE Group, the Funding Escalator has so far supported 51 companies and invested £8.3million of loans and equity, creating or safeguarding 594 jobs in the LEP area. In addition, £21million of private finance has been leveraged to help companies grow. The funding escalator has supported businesses from a wide range of different sectors, including Tech & Digital, Life Sciences, MedTech, Cultural & Creative and Food & Beverages.

To build on this success, the LEP has committed a further £3million to make the £11.3million an ‘evergreen fund’; and increased both the size of loans available up to £300,000 and the period up to 5 years. The increased scale of the fund will mean that it is self-sustaining so that it can continue to support SMEs in Berkshire in perpetuity. This represents a significant investment for the LEP and reinforces its determination to support SMEs in the area, from any sector, that want to grow and create wealth locally.

Robin Barnes, Programme Lead for Enterprise, Innovation & Business Growth at Thames Valley Berkshire LEP says: “We created the first funding escalator in the UK with the aim to transform the way businesses can grow by creating an enduring legacy of business investment, innovation and growth in our sub region. This increased capacity and evergreen status is a real game changer and I would encourage ambitious businesses to get in touch with The FSE Group.”

Chief Executive of The FSE Group, Dean Mayer, adds: “We are delighted to continue our close working relationship with Thames Valley Berkshire LEP. The Funding Escalator is here to help support businesses looking to grow substantially in Berkshire, and we are extremely proud of our achievements over the last 5 years. This new injection of £3million allows us to press ahead in reaching even more innovative and high-quality businesses in the area.”

 

**All text courtesy of TVBLEP on http://www.thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk/news?id=69**

New Partnership between University of Reading and Red Whale!

In the Knowledge Transfer Centre at the University of Reading, we are continually looking to collaborate with exciting, innovative, local businesses in order to help create a positive global impact. We are therefore extremely delighted to announce our latest Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Red Whale, a company based right alongside us on the UoR campus. Red Whale are one of the leading providers of primary care medical education in the UK who specialise in producing evidence-based courses relevant to everyday practice, full of action points for delegates to take away and implement.
 
The project will see Red Whale working with three departments at the University of Reading; Computer Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and the Institute of Education, in order to develop  a new medical education delivery method utilising an online platform, all the while meeting Red Whale’s core values of being relevant, challenging and fun.
 
We are extremely excited about our latest KTP and what the future will bring with this exciting partnership.
 
KTP or Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s leading programme to help bridge the gap between industry and academia. The initiative helps businesses improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic competitive importance. The  UK-wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations.
If your business has a product or service that could benefit from a KTP, contact us today to discuss the opportunities available to you in more detail. 

Extra KTP Funding References Success of UoR’s Partnership with Ella’s Kitchen

On November 9th, Innovate UK announced an additional £30million of funding for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs); a government backed scheme which connects businesses across the UK with an academic or research organisation (such as a university), along with a qualified graduate.

There are currently 630 graduates and post-doctoral researchers employed in KTPs branching across industrial research and development and entrepreneurial roles, and the additional funding means this will be able to expand significantly.

The announcement referenced the success story of Ella’s Kitchen; a multi-national baby food company who have had three projects with University of Reading, and maintain an ongoing relationship with the Knowledge Transfer Centre and UoR Academics.

The announcement of additional funding is an extremely exciting one, and even more so with a mention of the successful projects of University of Reading.

The full announcement can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30-million-for-business-and-graduate-partnerships