Business, Innovation and Growth

Background

The overarching aim of the GNP’s Business, Innovation and Growth Strategy Action Team (BIG SAT) is to enhance the competitiveness, productivity and growth of businesses located within the Greater Nottingham sub-region.

The BIG SAT is currently chaired by Peter Wheeldon of the Nottingham Business Alliance and contains representatives from the following organisations:

• Accelerate Nottingham
• Broxtowe Borough Council
• Business Link East Midlands
• DS Associates
• Groundwork Greater Nottingham
• Nottingham City Council
• Nottingham Energy Partnership
• Nottingham Trent University
• Nottinghamshire Council for Voluntary Service
• Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• One Nottingham
• University of Nottingham

See the BIG SAT Papers category of the news page for meeting papers and minutes.

Strategic Objectives

In formulating its strategic objectives, the BIG SAT has decided to focus its work and resources around the priority actions the seven East Midlands SSPs have been tasked with addressing in Strategic Priorities 2 (Enterprise and Business Support), 3 (Innovation) and 5 (Energy and Resources) of the Regional Economic Strategy.

The following overarching objectives have been agreed:

RES Strategic Priority 2 (Enterprise and Business Support)

• Support the development of a culture of enterprise within the sub-region.
• Increase the number of business start-ups within the sub-region and the survival rates of businesses that are 12 to 36 months old.
• Improve access to finance for the sub-region’s businesses.
• Support the provision of inward investment activity that encourages companies to locate within the sub-region as well as the provision of specialist aftercare advice.
• Support the delivery of additional sub-regional activity, based issues of need and demand, that adds value to the regional business support portfolio through the provision of top up funding to regional programmes.

RES Strategic Priority 3 (Innovation)

• Support the development of the sub-region’s creative industries.
• Support the development of design excellence within the sub-region.
• Support the development of the Nottingham Science City agenda.
• Support the development of greater linkages and collaboration between the sub-region’s universities and businesses that encourage knowledge and technology transfer.
• Support the development of the region’s Innovation Networks (iNets).
• Support the development of a culture of innovation.

RES Strategic Priority 5 (Energy and Resources)

• Support the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies.
• Support the development of renewable and low carbon energy generation within the sub-region.
• Support the sub-region’s businesses to become more resource efficient and reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill.

Funding

The BIG SAT currently possesses an annual Single Programme funding budget of £1,000,000 revenue with which to support economic development projects.

In allocating its resources, the BIG SAT has agreed to divide its funding between the following main areas:

1. Virements to other regional and sub-regional projects and programmes: 50% (£500,000)
2. Sub-regional projects: 50% (£500,000)
   1. Enterprise and business support projects: 20% (£200,000)
   2. Innovation projects 20% (£200,000)
   3. Resource efficiency projects: 10% (£100,000)

The Business, Innovation and Growth SAT has supported a number of projects through its Single Programme funding, details of which can be found on the BIG SAT Projects category of the news page.