£15m innovation boost for UK manufacturers

Innovate UK has announced a £15million competition to encourage UK manufacturing and materials SME businesses to adopt the latest revolutionary ways of making things and grow the UK’s manufacturing sector.

This is the first of Innovate UK’s simplified sequence of competitions where each of the organisation’s four key sectors offer two broad competitions in each sector per year, plus two ‘open’ competitions for applications from any sectors. The organisation’s four key sectors are emerging and enabling technologies; health and life sciences; infrastructure systems and manufacturing and materials.

“This new £15m competition offers a real opportunity for UK businesses, particularly SMEs, to grow and become more productive,” said Simon Edmonds, manufacturing and materials director at Innovate UK. “Innovate UK is determined to help grow UK manufacturing supply chains through innovation, in areas where there is high-growth potential such as digital manufacturing, materials integration and industrial biotechnology.”

The deadline for applications is 13 July. There will be a briefing day for potential applicants in London on 23 May – additional briefing events will be held on 26 May in the West Midlands and Manchester on 27 May.