The government has announced £57.5m funding will be made available for the UK’s energy and infrastructure, biomedical, and quantum technology sectors…
A new funding boost has been given to help develop the UK’s energy and infrastructure, biomedical, and quantum technology sectors.
The £57.5m fund was announced by Business Secretary Sajid Javid during the first inter-ministerial group on business engagement.
The meeting, which was chaired by Javid, involved ministers from across government to discuss challenges facing businesses and how to support them following the EU referendum vote. Ministers agreed the need to work together to help businesses, as well as the need to “speak with one voice” to engage and tackle “immediate investment risks and domestic policy issues”.
The funding will be used to help boost innovative businesses across a range of sectors including sustainable energy, transport, healthcare, and quantum technology.
Javid said: “Creating opportunities for businesses to thrive in the UK is essential for increasing productivity, creating jobs, and boosting our economy.
“That’s why government is working with businesses across all sectors to ensure they have the support they need to grow now and in the future.
“Part of our success will be to help propel innovative UK business even further – not only do our world-leading innovators and research base attract foreign investment, their ideas go on to improve the lives of millions of people.
“Whether tackling climate change or cancer, this new funding will help get the best ideas onto the market quicker and shows our commitment to make the UK the best place in Europe to innovate, set up and grow a business.”
Over the next two weeks a series of competitions will open to allow bidding for funding to begin. Run by the government’s innovation agency Innovate UK and its partner organisations, competitions include:
- Two competitions worth £28 million to develop affordable, sustainable and secure energy delivery and integration of different modes of transport: Innovation in infrastructure systems and First of a kind deployment of innovation
- A joint £10 million Biomedical Catalyst 2016 competition between Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise to develop innovative healthcare technologies
- A £19.5 million joint competition with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop commercial applications for quantum technologies
