The Scale up 4 Growth project launched by UWE Bristol ‘s Research, Business and Innovation team has been nominated for a KE Award in the External KE Initiative of the Year category.
Scale up 4 Growth (S4G) is a 3 year, free programme that helps SMEs that are looking to grow, expand and scale.
The ERDF funded project is delivered by the unique S4G Partnership of UWE Bristol (lead), NatWest and Foot Anstey LLP and includes:
- Two-day ‘business growth’ workshops, delivered across the WoE by leading Bristol Business School academics and industry experts from the S4G Partnership
- Grants of £10k–40k for projects that help businesses address barriers to growth
S4G is an excellent example of an external KE initiative that brings together the very best in university-business partnership working, sharing knowledge and expertise from academia and industry with growing businesses, to benefit the regional economy.
The programme is designed explicitly around the ‘five key gaps’ that prevent businesses from scaling up, identified by the ScaleUp Institute’s pioneering research: Skills; Finance; Markets; Infrastructure; and Leadership. This evidence-based foundation has helped create an extremely successful programme that, in 6 months since its launch, has consistently demonstrated its ability to directly address the challenges faced by growing businesses.
Partnering with NatWest and Foot Anstey LLP has enabled UWE Bristol to provide a high-quality programme for aspiring scalers who do not have the time, network or financial resource to access equivalent support.
Since its launch in November 2018, over 300 businesses have registered to be part of the S4G network and benefit from the programme; this number is only set to grow.
The KE Awards are a new initiative organised by PraxisAuril, the UK’s world-leading professional association for Knowledge Exchange (KE) practitioners, to celebrate the contribution of KE professionals in enabling and facilitating the societal and economic impact of research.
Sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a new body creating the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish, the KE Awards will recognise and celebrate the people behind the best KE achievements.
Winners will be announced at the PraxisAuril conference on the evening of Thursday 13 June 2019.
Congratulations to the team on the nomination and good luck for the awards!