CLUSTER NEWS – November 2024
Get help with cutting energy costs and going green
– while free help is still available
For 2024-25, Government has been funding a pilot in the West Midlands of a Business Energy Advisory Service. You can access FREE Energy Assessments and GRANTS from £1000 to £100,000 for small to medium businesses.
Through this programme, you will receive a FREE of charge Energy Audit which includes an analysis of the energy used in your buildings, industrial processes, and operations through an onsite survey followed by a comprehensive report which aims to:
- Identify cost – effective energy saving measures
- Provide an independent analysis of the carbon and cost savings of energy efficiency projects based on your actual energy consumption.
- Help you to gain a better understanding of your carbon emissions.
- Enable you to set validated emissions targets.
- Help you to embed a low carbon strategy within the company.
- Set you on the path towards Net Zero.
Energy Intensive Manufacturers will receive additional support for processes improvement through energy efficiency – helping them to fully understand the main drivers of energy consumption in relation to their production processes, with additional grant funding available for plant/machinery and automated energy management and targeting systems.
After you have received your Audit Report you can apply for grant funding up to £100,000 (50% match-funded) towards energy efficiency projects identified in the report.
If you are interested, I recommend a visit to this web page set up by Pro Enviro, one of the deliverers of the programme. From there, you can register for the programme. You can also register on the website of Business Growth WM here.
CLUSTER’S EVENTS
We had to postpone the Topical Tuesday in November due to unforeseen circumstances. We are working on our 2025 calendar of events now and we will let you have the details soon.
I wrote a thought piece about future HealthTech at the request of Birmingham Business Magazine, which features in their Life Sciences Special Report.
And on the subject of thought leadership, we attended the Innovation Awards dinner but we did not win the Award for thought leadership organisation. Still, getting onto the finalists’ shortlist was an achievement in itself.
I attended the lights switch on at Millennium Point. The massive array of lights on the huge tree were switched on by Bev Bevan, of ELO fame, and there was excellent live music from Mrs Gray’s Sons.
I had a meeting with the Member of Parliament for Leamington Spa, Matt Weston MP, about the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory, but it seems certain now that this asset, so critical to the UK’s preparedness for tackling future severe health threats, has been lost to the nation.
I completed a response to the Change NHS consultation about a new 10-year Plan for Health. I raised this vital issue of preparedness in my response. Similarly, I completed a response to Invest 2035, the Government’s Green Paper consultation on its proposed Industrial Strategy.
My preparations for a roundtable for stakeholders as part of the development of a single Narrative for HealthTech in the West Midlands are well advanced. Invitations will be going out soon.
I sent out invitations for an employers’ skills seminar, to be held on 02 December, where I plan for employers to pick up in one session on all the developments taking place in skills for HealthTech.
As a member of Midlands Engine’s Board for Health, Care and Life Sciences, I got a shock at this month’s board meeting when we heard that the Government is minded to stop all funding for Midlands Engine (and all the other Pan Regional Partnerships). There’s to be a 4-week consultation before any final decision is confirmed.
This month, I attended the second meeting of the new HealthTech Land Insights Forum. Ably chaired by CBRE’s Will Ventham, we made good progress and were able to agree on a programme of work for 2025.
I have started out on a training programme, led by WM Growth Company, on Strategic Relationship Management. There are four in-person modules (one day each) and nine additional webinars. The programme is part of a push by the West Midlands as a whole to improve relationships and services for businesses.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) operates a cluster steering group for our region’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) sector – I am pleased to announce that I have been appointed to this steering group. I am also talking to MTC about holding a joint meeting with WMHTC to explore the role of RAS in the HealthTech sector.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR NEWS
Kick Start for Health Tech
We have now launched the new, free-to-access programme of support for HealthTech entrepreneurs and innovators. This is a collaborative effort between West Midlands Health Technologies Cluster (WMHTC) and Birmingham Enterprise Community (BEC), with support from a wide range of our partners and stakeholders.
This new Kick Start programme aims to support aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators looking to enter the thriving HealthTech sector in our region with FREE work packages.
We are now open for applications from Individuals with innovative ideas in health technology, Businesses looking to pivot into the HealthTech sector and Suppliers seeking to diversify their offerings.
For more information fill out the form here or contact Emma.
Find the right funding
Business Growth WM has announced a new partnership with Swoop, giving our businesses a free, no-obligation platform to search for funding, finance and grants.
They’ve partnered with business funding platform Swoop, where you can discover the right funding solutions across loans, equity and grants.
As a small business owner it can feel impossible to get visibility of all the funding solutions available. 68% of SMEs regularly cite access to finance as one of the main barriers to growth.
Swoop is a business funding and savings platform enabling businesses to discover the right funding solutions across debt, equity and grants, and to identify and easily make savings. The Swoop platform simplifies and speeds-up access to funding for your business. The clever AI technology analyses every opportunity available, so that you can be matched with relevant funding solutions in a matter of seconds. But they’re not just a technology platform, they understand it can be a daunting and complex process, and their team of experts are readily available to help manage your application from beginning to end.
Swoop works with over 1,000 funding providers from mainstream banks, alternative lenders, venture capital funds, SEIS/EIS funds, angel investors and grant agencies, meaning that whatever your funding requirement, they’re able to offer a relevant matched solution in seconds.
Swoop also allows you to find savings. Through leveraging Swoop’s Open Banking technology, you can see how much money you can save in any year and apply to switch across your expenditure on banking, foreign exchange, utilities, broadband, mobile phones and insurance.
Registration is simple – you only need to complete a single form, once. Then leave it to Swoop to do the hard work. And importantly, all information stored in Swoop is for your eyes only – no credit checks are run unless you have been submitted to a funding provider with your permission.
See Business Growth WM’s website for more details.
Funding opportunities
- Innovate UK Smart Grants: November 2024
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game changing and commercially viable research and development (R&D) innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy.
This competition is open to single applicants and collaborations. To lead a project you must:
- be a UK registered business of any size
- be a UK registered research and technology organisation
- carry out all your R&D project activity in the UK
- intend to commercially exploit the project results from the UK
You must be or involve at least one grant claiming micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. Read more about this funding here.
The closing date for bids is 22 January 2025.
- Innovation loans future economy: round 18
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of a new round of loans (£25 million available) for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
This competition is open to single applications from micro, small or medium-sized enterprises registered in the UK. Read more about these loans here.
The closing date for applications is 08 January 2025.
- Launchpad: immersive and creative grants, Coventry and Warwickshire
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £4.35 million for projects that grow their innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire in the West Midlands.
This competition is open to collaborations only. To lead a project you must:
- be a UK registered business
- be growing your innovation activities in the immersive and creative industries cluster centred on Coventry and Warwickshire
- intend to exploit the project outcomes from the UK for domestic or global benefit
You must involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).
The closing date for bids is 11 December 2024.
Baseline mapping of HealthTech businesses in the West Midlands
This summer, we were fortunate to be able to commission the Economic Intelligence Unit of Professor Delma Dwight to research the HealthTech sector locally. We are grateful to EIU’s researcher Lukasz Gasienica-Fronek for his diligence and to West Midlands Combined Authority for funding the research.
Given the source of funding, the research was limited to the area of the Combined Authority (the 7 metropolitan councils).
Why did we feel the need for this research? As many of us understand, it is difficult to access accurate data from official sources for sectors which cross over disciplines and activities. We have always found that SIC codes, for example, do not capture HealthTech businesses very well at all. Our view was that, without a reasonably firm understanding of the strength of the HealthTech sector in the West Midlands, it was proving difficult to reach all parts of the sector, advocate for the sector, and measure progress against our mission to help grow the sector in the West Midlands.
So, now we have some reliable data. The final report received this week from EIU tells us that there are 614 relevant HealthTech businesses with a combined turnover in excess of £6bn a year, directly employing 14,000 workers and generating £5.2bn in GVA every year. Of course, as soon as it is published, this data needs updating as the sector evolves, and this is where we can add value to the research findings – by keeping the data up to date.
The sector is heavily oriented towards life sciences and digital health, with strong presence in data infrastructure, services and software development. Key sector verticals include Data Infrastructure Software and Services, SaaS for Healthcare, and Human Health Services. Nearly 91% of the identified companies were classed as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with a significant proportion classified as Micro-Companies (45%), highlighting the sector’s entrepreneurial nature and need for targeted support, especially with scaling up.
There are concentrations of businesses within the 7-met area, which are mapped in the report. There is good read-across from having this picture of the sector’s geography and our work on land availability for HealthTech businesses.
Digital Health Business Networking Event: How is health data research driving better care?
In this one-day conference, University of Birmingham will be bringing together industry and service providers and clinicians with researchers to explore how we can work together to accelerate life sciences collaborations that will help unlock the region’s potential. From using health data research to improve healthcare products so they are ready to go to market to how AI and data-science is driving real-world evidence generation.
The conference will be held on Monday 03 March 2025 at Edgbaston Park Hotel, 53 Edgbaston Park Rd, Birmingham B15 2RS.
Register now to secure your place at this event.
In the meantime, if you would like any further information please contact Joanna Smith, Business Engagement Partner for Life Sciences at j.l.j.smith@bham.ac.uk
WEST MIDLANDS REGION NEWS
New Funding for our region’s innovators and inventors
Two multi-million-pound funds set up to spark innovation, boost research and development, and harness new digital technologies will benefit from decisions announced in the Autumn Budget.
The region’s flagship Innovation Accelerator and the Made Smarter programme are to get fresh funding so they can continue to support businesses and drive growth across the West Midlands.
The two programmes have already helped local SMEs to create or upskill almost 5,000 jobs and secure more than £70 million of public and private sector investment.
This includes more than 700 businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs getting expert advice and funding to commercialise new and emerging products and technologies through the Innovation Accelerator and technical support or grants to almost 450 manufacturing firms to help them adopt new digital machinery and processes to increase productivity and drive growth through Made Smarter.
Both will now be extended thanks to new Government funding announced in the recent budget to support local SMEs. The funds will continue to be overseen by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
You can read more on the WMCA’s website.
West Midlands Business Festival March 2025
In October, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, announced a major new festival for the business community offering firms the chance to come together and help turbocharge economic growth across the region.
The first West Midlands Business Festival will take place in March next year and bring together small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the wider business community for a fortnight of inspiration, innovation, learning, showcasing, and networking.
Organised by Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM), the festival will be one of the region’s biggest and most influential annual business-to-business events.
You can register your interest in taking part in the Business Festival here.
New export funding for West Midlands businesses
Small businesses in the West Midlands can benefit from a new support programme that will help them to trade overseas.
The West Midlands Combined Authority has awarded £632,000 to the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce to lead a programme of support in Coventry, Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country to help businesses take their first steps into exporting or to support firms in growing their international markets. Greater Birmingham and Black Country Chambers will support the delivery of the programme in their regions.
It is aimed at both manufacturers and service sector businesses and will feature a mix of one-to-one advice from expert export advisors, online workshops and face-to-face events. The programme is targeting businesses in specific areas – such as aerospace, electric light vehicle manufacturing, health tech/med tech, logistics/distribution, professional/financial services and e-commerce – but the Chamber is urging all businesses who are looking for help to export to get in touch.
The support will help to boost exporting from the region, which is proven to boost the bottom line of individual businesses but also enhances their longer-term resilience and success and drives efficiency and innovation.
You can read more about this on the website of Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.
DBT’s Unlock Europe webinar series
Unlock Europe is a new webinar series designed to help your business better understand how to grow your international sales in EU countries.
For the ultimate experience we recommend you join all webinars, however you can dip in and out of the topics that suit your needs:
• Choosing the right European Market
• Understanding the Trade Co-operation Agreement and Rules of Origin
• Regulatory Frameworks including GPSR and CE Marking
•• Understanding VAT implications
• CBAM, and what it means for business
• Demystifying sanitary and phytosanitary requirements
• Using trade digitalisation
• Getting goods into the EU – what is best option?
For details and registration, visit DBT’s web page here.
Exploring Golden Triangle Opportunities
Mills & Reeve recently hosted a round table discussion on the vibrant Oxford innovation ecosystem, delving into investment prospects. Oxford has seen significant annual investments, ranging from £900m to £1.4bn in recent years.
Highlights from the round table discussion include:
- To attract more investors, Oxford needs to address its limited lab space and a perception of being a “closed shop”.
- There is a need for greater engagement and collaboration, enhancing HealthTech networks in and beyond Oxford.
- Oxford University’s focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, along with initiatives like Founders and Funders, highlights the evolving landscape.
- Positivity, energy, and collaboration are key with peers in the Golden Triangle and the North to propel Oxford’s innovation ecosystem.
- Intermediaries and professionals will aid in dispelling myths and showcasing Oxford’s potential nationally and globally.
West Midlands – A Capital of Innovation
The West Midlands has been recognised as one of the top three European regions for innovation at the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) European Capital of Innovation Awards 2024. Our team went all the way to the final with an approach called ‘HUMANiCITY’ – Making Innovation Work in the Most Human of Places.
The awards recognise cities that have embedded innovation into the daily fabric of urban life, advancing sustainable, inclusive, and resilient communities. The top three finalists attended the Awards Ceremony in Lisbon, and for receiving the bronze award, the West Midlands was awarded €100,000.
This recognition will come as no surprise to those of us working in the region. We have a great health innovation ecosystem partnering across academia, industry and the NHS, which supports innovators to develop, test and implement their innovations here.
In first place was Torino (Italy) and the runner-up was Espoo (Finland).
Congratulations to our West Midlands team!
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Funding for Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing
The Government has committed up to £520 million for life sciences manufacturing, to help deliver on the government’s missions to kickstart economic growth and build an NHS fit for the future. The Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund was opened for Expressions of Interest on 30 October.
The funding will be UK and sector wide and will provide capital grants for investments in the manufacture of:
- Human medicines (this includes both the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) / drug substance and finished product / drug product).
- Medical diagnostics – for both disease identification and monitoring.
- MedTech products – all types of medical devices related to human health.
The fund will remain open until all the funding has been allocated.
Applicants will be prioritised based on their alignment to the fund’s objectives:
- To increase UK health resilience by strengthening the UK’s manufacturing capacity and capability. We define health resilience as the UK’s ability to withstand and recover from health emergencies such as pandemics, long-term healthcare challenges and system shocks such as supply chain disruption.
- To create economic opportunity through investments that will make a substantial contribution to Gross Value Added (GVA) and provide high-wage, high-skilled jobs around the UK.
Projects put forward for funding must have a total cost of at least £8M.
I have started engagement with HealthTech businesses and manufacturers to see if we can collaboratively come up with a winning bid for funding.
Sustainability and Supply Chains
In the latest InterAct newsletter to hit my inbox, there is a great blog by Judith Richardson, sustainability practice lead at management consultancy, Argon & Co UK, on working with clients to operationalise their sustainability strategies, turning long-term visions into tangible action that makes a difference.
In this new blog article, she examines the need to see sustainability not as an ‘added extra’, distinct from the fundamental needs of a business, but an essential aspect of growth and development. Examining the challenges and opportunities that the shift to greener supply chains presents, Judith explores how you can orient your business towards a sustainable future.
Supply chain excellence is no longer just about getting the right product, at the right time, to the right place. It is also the ability to configure the chain to withstand volatility, be resilient, and support strategic goals.
What might the successful, sustainable supply chain-oriented companies of the future look like? Read this blog for a very convincing answer.
Local Growth Plans – What are they?
Local Growth Plans are a central part of the new Government’s strategy to spread economic growth across the UK. Shortly after the election, the Prime Minister tasked the Mayors of England’s 12 combined authorities with creating tailored plans for their regions, recognising that local leaders play a crucial role in shaping economic progress.
These plans aim to harness the powers granted through recent devolution deals, enabling regions to address local priorities while contributing to national growth. Unlike previous initiatives that struggled to gain traction, these plans are intended to be part of a coordinated strategy, with local insights feeding into a broader National Industrial Strategy.
Here in the West Midlands, the nine cluster leads, WMHTC included, are discussing with the Mayor and the WMCA the groundwork needed to prepare the way for a Local Growth Plan which both respects the Government’s National Industrial Strategy and plays to our region’s strengths.
Change NHS consultation about proposed 10-year Health Plan
The Government wants to hear your views, experiences and ideas to help shape a new 10 Year Health Plan for England. This is open to everyone. If you are a member of the public or someone who works in health and care in England, or Your views, experiences and ideas will shape a new 10 Year Health Plan for England.
This is open to everyone. If you are a member of the public or someone who works in health and care in England or a representative of an organisation, you are invited to complete a questionnaire. This is an opportunity to share your insights as the Health Secretary begins an extensive programme of engagement to develop the 10 Year Health Plan. But time is short – the closing date for responses is 5pm on 02 December.
Spotlight on…
Legal firm and cluster member, Mills & Reeve, has moved to great new offices in the Birmingham City Centre’s Paradise development. They have particular relevance for our HealthTech sector because much of their legal expertise relating to HealthTech is located here in the Birmingham office. So, for example, their commercial and procurement teams recently advised a HealthTech supplier on how to unlock a business-critical customer contracting opportunity:
The challenge was to aid a scale-up which provides SaaS-based technology for healthcare providers, including virtual wards. The opportunity was to provide the solution to four Trusts (all within one ICB), relying on funding from the ICB. To unlock the opportunity the Trusts needed to ensure they complied with public contract and procurement laws.
Mills & Reeve’s team found a solution based on using an existing framework for this type of SaaS supply. The task was to prepare the call-off template (which is set by the framework). We gave guidance to the supplier and their non-lawyer consultant on how to prepare. The contracts were concluded.
The CEO and founder said: “I genuinely couldn’t ask for a better team. They have a deep understanding of our industry and have expertly prepared us for the unique challenges of working within the NHS”.
As a snapshot of its current activities in the Midlands, Mills & Reeve’s Health and Care Sector Technology team is currently advising on data sharing across multiple ICSs, Electronic Patient Record procurements and contracts, and cyber security incident preparation and aftermath.
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.
