CLUSTER NEWS – JANUARY 2024
Do you want help with managing your energy costs?
From January 2024, you can ask for help with managing your energy costs under two current schemes:
ONE A Government pilot programme, only in the West Midlands, called Business Energy Advice Services (BEAS)
TWO Decarbonisation Net Zero (Decarb Net Zero).
The BEAS help is available everywhere in the West Midlands for 15 months until end-March 2025. If we don’t use it, we lose it.
The front door to access this service is Business Growth WM.
£15.5M is available in grants and there are two ingredients:
- A free business energy assessment leading to a report containing recommendations, priorities and potential for grant funding; and
- Grants, some of which fund actions 100 per cent and others which necessitate match-funding from the business.
The Decarb Net Zero is available in the area of the West Midlands Combined Authority (the seven metropolitan areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton). £5.5M is available in grants as well as free assessments and advice. The grants can cover switching away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.
Let’s not waste this opportunity to lever more spending into our region and help our businesses cut energy costs and become even more competitive.
Remember, the front door to access these services is the website of Business Growth WM.
CLUSTER’S EVENTS
The January Topical Tuesday caused quite a stir! We and BEC are planning a business support service for new start-ups. Our presenter, BEC’s Dan Evans, explained how and why this service is needed. Watch the video recodring of the event here. You can expect announcements from us about developing this service later this year.
The next Innovative Health Working Group meeting will be held on 22nd February in Aston University’s new Design Factory, for an exciting event where we explore the cutting-edge world of healthcare solutions! This in-person gathering will take place at the Aston University Main Building in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Find out more here.
Contact me if you want details of future plans for a members’ social gathering, a roundtable about technological changes between now and 2040 and our next conference.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR NEWS
My update on skills
Since I reported to you last November about my discussion with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), I have made a lot of progress. WMCA already has an annual budget for skills of £164M – and this will grow under the “deeper devolution” deal between the Government and the Mayor.
There are FOUR potential developments coming out of my discussion with WMCA:
- A Skills Framework for HealthTech, fleshing out the kind of jobs involved and the skills needed and ways in which skills training needs can be met;
- A more systematic and intensive way of supporting young people between ages 19 & 29 into apprenticeships in HealthTech businesses;
- A “demonstrator site” for digital skills, with a focus on skills in digital health jobs and careers; and
- A HealthTech link into the new businesses support platform hosted by Tech WM.
WMCA is showing commendable urgency in its engagement with me on these potential projects and I very much intend to keep you informed of developments at every step of the way. The February Topical Tuesday session with WMCA’s Skills Team (see earlier) is part of this commitment.
I continue to encourage and welcome ideas and suggestions from readers about what I have developed so far and what you think should happen in our region to support upskilling of a suitable workforce for HealthTech businesses.
Please email me at david@wmhtc.co.uk with your contributions.
Strategy roundtable follow up
Since we held the roundtable, I drafted a document which I am now calling a “roadmap”, I circulated it to everyone who has contributed to its development to date and I asked for feedback and responses by the end of January.
In February, I will make changes to the draft roadmap which respond to this feedback and I will work to get all stakeholders to approve the final version and confirm that they will sign up to its Vision Statement and Missions’ commitments. This will then be widely publicised.
The next stage afterwards will be for me to develop, with all stakeholders, a more detailed, and comprehensive, “Narrative” for our HealthTech sector, something we can all use when we engage with potential funders, investors and business newcomers.
Feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about this work.
Tech Tour Growth Health 2024
I have no personal knowledge of this business, so if the following is of interest, you need to carry out your own due diligence. I have been asked to circulate news of the 15th edition of Tech Tour (Offices in Brussels and Sofia) – Tech Tour Growth Health 2024 hosted by Canton de Vaud, Innovaud.
They are scouting to select the best 40 Digital Health and Medtech companies, looking for Series A, B or later investment. If an earlier-stage company has strong potential and impresses their investors throughout the selection process, an exception can be made.
The event this year will be held on 10-11 September in Lausanne, Switzerland and the application process is open until 31 May. Application is free of charge. The event offers networking opportunities, sector-focused pitching sessions, One2One meetings, and networking dinners.
As a background, Tech Tour is an investment community bringing together every year over 1,000+ tech companies as selected by 1,000 investors and corporate partners across 25 invitation-only Programmes covering all of Europe and all tech sectors including digital and deeptech, health and well-being, as well as sustainability.
For further information and to register your interest, go to Tech Tour Growth Health 2024.
We have an exclusive chance to hear from renowned entrepreneur Theo Paphitis!
Taking place on 12 February from 12:00-12:45pm you will get the rare opportunity to engage with one of the business world’s luminaries, discussing the challenges, successes and insights gained when scaling a business for growth, positioning you for success in the UK and internationally.
Read more here.
WEST MIDLANDS REGION NEWS
Ethnic Minority Business Mission to the USA
Midlands-based ethnic minority owned or led businesses with credible export experience are invited to join this mission to Philadelphia, during The World Trade Center’s Bringing the World to PA 2024 tour.
This Mission is supported by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Midlands, MSDUK, The Eastern Minority Supplier Council (EMSDC), the British-American Business Council and The World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.
DBT will cover all the in-market programme costs and 50% of the authorised hotel costs – participants will only need to pay for their travel, 50% of accommodation and some meals. The mission offers good value for money.
The Mission will take place 18th – 20th March and you need to register your interest as soon as possible. For further details and to register, go to the DBT Midlands webpage.
Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, Leamington Spa
The Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in Leamington Spa closed in January last year having processed about 8.5 million Covid-19 tests during the pandemic. Now the mothballed coronavirus mega lab has appeared for sale on Rightmove.
MPs on the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee have expressed surprise and said Government Ministers should use the facility, which has received more than £1bn in public funding, to research bacteria-killing viruses known as phages. It is thought phages, a harmless-to-humans virus that infects bacteria, could be used to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The MPs say its sudden sale has shocked the scientific community and called for its lab space to be used to combat antibiotic resistance. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said its future was being explored while ensuring the best value for taxpayers’ money.
After hours Networking
DBT hosts a series of networking events for WM businesspeople and the next After hours Networking event is on 13 February. Widen your networks and increase your exporting capabilities at this exclusive DBT Midlands Afterhours Networking Event:
Date: 13 February 2024
Time:5.30pm – 8.00pm
Location: Primitivo
Birmingham B3 2NT
Registration is essential and places are limited so you need to be quick to register.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Innovate UK Loans
UK registered businesses can apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy. The latest Round opened on Thursday 11 January 2024 and will close on Wednesday 6 March 2024 11:00am. Innovate UK is offering up to £25 million in loans to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Innovate UK innovation loans are for highly innovative late stage research and development (R&D) projects with the best potential for the future. There must be a clear route to commercialisation and economic impact.
Whereas IUK grants are highly competitive with thousands of companies applying, there are far fewer applications for loans and, while they are still awarded through a competition, you are much more likely to hit the innovation threshold and be successful.
Your project must lead to innovative new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available, or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. It can also involve a new or innovative business model.
Your project must focus on one or more of the future economy areas:
- Technologies (creating and benefiting from advances in technology);
- Net zero (zero carbon emissions and tackling wider adverse environmental impacts);
- Health and wellbeing (sustaining healthy human life, including nutrition and healthcare); or
- Horizon scanning and foresight (continually looking ahead).
You must apply on Innovate UK’s website and remember, the current round closes on Wednesday 6th March.
The Economy in 2024
This month, I attended Deloitte’s webinar discussing what the company believes will happen to the UK’s economy this year. In short, it is a story of a slow half-year to the Summer and then some pick-up in productivity and growth in the second half of the year.
If this is something that interests you, the webinar is now available online and you can watch and listen to Deloitte’s Chief Economist, Ian Stewart, there.
Selling into the NHS
Health Tech Enterprise is offering a two-hour market access course suitable for anyone who is involved in developing new healthcare technologies and products, be it as an entrepreneur, clinician, academic or investor. It will help you to understand key market issues in the UK healthcare market and how to overcome them, understanding your (NHS) customer and the value of evidence and how to use it to drive adoption.
The session is on Thursday 22 February, 13.00hrs to 1500hrs.
To take part, you need to register on their website, where you can also see details of the speakers.
Spotlight on…
The Cluster’s new Members’ focus group
On 12th January, we convened the first meeting of our new focus group, comprising Cluster Members who are willing to give some time to considering our plans and giving us constructive feedback on how best we can achieve our objectives.
Mostly immediately, we are planning to change the website around so that we can focus first and foremost on our members and how we serve the HealthTech sector in the West Midlands. We have plans for members to have a webpage each to promote their own business and to create a link to their own website, opportunities for members to offer discounts to other members, and a chat function to enable members to be in direct contact with each other.
Beyond our plans for the website, we are asking our focus group on views about the Cluster’s value proposition, our ways of working, and the kinds of events and activities members would like us to undertake.
The focus group will continue to engage with us and hold further meetings. I will report outcomes to everyone. If you are interested in joining the focus group, please let me know.
I hope you enjoy reading my e-bulletin. Feel free to contact me personally with your feedback and suggestions for future activities at david@wmhtc.co.uk
Regards,
Executive Chair.
