Tatton Consulting

Mark Clayton

**2018 Open innovation call – £19m Round 1**

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Investing in R&D in 2018? Developing innovative technology?
**Open to any technology, any company size, anywhere in the UK**
*£19m in funding, 70% grants available*

The UK GOV’s leading grant scheme is now open for applications.  Grants of up to £1m are available to support 2018 and 2019 R&D projects – this is one scheme not to be missed.

Scope

To be in scope, a proposal must:

  • lead to the development of innovative, new products, processes or services;
  • demonstrate sufficient technical innovation, potential return on investment and a high degree of technical risk;
  • articulate a clear and anticipated high growth impact for the business(s) leading to a significant return on investment (ROI).

Priority will be given to proposals that are likely to lead to sustainable gains in productivity and/or access to new overseas markets through export led business growth.

Funding details

The funder has allocated up to £19 million to fund innovation projects in this open competition. Successful applicants can attract grant funding towards their eligible project costs.The percentage of costs that they pay through a grant varies. It depends on the type of research being carried out and size and type of organisation involved.

Applicant size      Industrial research   Experimental development  
Micro/small   70% 45%
Medium   60% 35%
Large   50% 25%

Projects are expected to last from 6 months to 3 years and to range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million. The costs covered by the grant include labour, overheads, materials, IP, depreciation and subcontractors.

Deadline

The application deadline is 12pm on the 28th February 2018 with a second round due to open in March and close on the 31st May. Applications will typically take at least 4 weeks to put together and then 8 weeks to review. Projects should therefore be looking from start in Q3 and Q4 2018 onwards and can incorporate 2019 and 2020 R&D activity.

What challenging, innovative projects would you undertake if you knew 70% of the costs were covered?

 

Recent Successes

We help a wide range of businesses, across a variety of industries identify, apply and secure public funding. Some of our recent successes include;

  • £189k for an innovative, environmental technology start-up;
  • £156k for an expanding UK food producer;
  • £129k for clean cities, clean technology project;
  • £90k for a 3D printing technology company;
  • £348k for an innovative medical device company.

All consultations are done free of charge and we only earn once both parties have identified a suitable opportunity with a good chance of success.  For further details please click here.

About Tatton Consulting

We help ambitious SMEs identify, apply for and secure the funding and grants to innovate and grow. Our team has secured over £26.9 million in repayment-free, interest-free, equity-free funding to help our clients innovate and grow. Priority areas include;

  • Manufacturing & New Materials
  • Health, Biomedical & Life Sciences
  • Digital, IoT, Electronics & Sensors
  • Green Technology, Transport, Defence & Energy
  • Regional Expansion & Growth
  • Tourism & Rural Development

If you would like to explore what funding opportunities are available at the moment or would like to discuss your project, then please;

Alternatively contact us by clicking on one of the links below. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your project further.


— Mark Clayton
Managing Director

Industrial Challenge: Advanced Manufacturing & Materials

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Industrial Challenge: Advanced Manufacturing & Materials
** £19m in funding, 70% grants available**

Innovative projects that boost productivity, result in a new process or material use are encouraged from the following technology areas:

• nanotechnology and nanomaterials
• composite materials
• coatings, thin films and surfaces
• metals and metallurgy
• ceramics
• polymers
• non-metallics
• electronic and sensing materials
• resource efficiency
• assembly and joining
• forming technologies
• chemical and bio process
• surface engineering
• CAD/CAM/CAE/simulation, digital manufacturing
• electronics manufacturing
• sensor and instrument (design and manufacture)
• material recovery and treatment
• additive manufacturing and 3D printing
________________________________________

Funding details

Innovate UK have allocated up to £19 million to fund innovation projects;

• Projects should focus on technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development.
• All projects must involve at least one SME and a business must lead the project.
• Projects costing more than £100k must involve a partner.
• The funding ranges from 35% up to 70% of total R&D costs (labour, overheads, materials, IP, subcontractors).
• Projects are expected to last from 6 months to 3 years and to range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million.

*** The closing dates for application is the 31st January 2018 ***

If you would like any further details on the schemes highlighted or to discuss a potential project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

2017/18 Innovate UK priority areas

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2017/18 Innovate UK priority areas

Innovate UK have now published their 2017/18 funding priorities for the year. In a marked change from previous years, the SMART scheme has closed and been replaced by four thematic priorities. A new open scheme will open however only twice a year. Details on the priority areas and requested projects are below.

Apply yourself and you have a 20% chance of success. Work with us and we have a 70% success rate.

Manufacturing and Materials

Round 1 – May
Round 2 – November

Focused on advancing manufacturing readiness so R&D and technology developments can be delivered at scale across a range of sectors to increase productivity and grow to capture the value in the UK. The priority areas are:

  • using digital technologies in new ways to increase productivity, systems flexibility and resource efficiency
  • manufacturing readiness at scale
  • supporting automotive and aerospace research
  • early stage manufacturing and materials concepts

‘Open to all’ competition

Round 1 – June
Round 2 – December

Funding competitions and programmes open to all innovative businesses, regardless of the technology or sector in which they are working. This enables businesses to address high-growth opportunities outside the core thematic areas.

Infrastructure systems

Round 1 – July
Round 2 – January

Covering major global market opportunities optimising transport and energy systems and integrating them with other systems such as health and digital in an urban context. The priority areas in the field of infrastructure systems are:

  • energy – systems and supply
  • transport systems
  • urban living
  • smart and resilient infrastructure

Health and Life Sciences

Round 1 – September
Round 2 – February

Focusing on agriculture and food and healthcare. The sector is underpinned by technologies developed in bioscience and medical research and enabled by expertise in engineering and physical science. The priority areas are:

  • precision medicine
  • advanced therapies – cell, gene and others
  • preclinical technologies
  • improving agriculture productivity
  • pathogens
  • enhanced food quality
  • biosciences

Emerging & Enabling Technologies

Round 1 – October
Round 2 – March

Identifying technologies and capabilities that will lead to the new products, processes and services of tomorrow – all with the potential to create billion-pound industries and disrupt existing markets. The priorities include:

  • quantum technologies
  • synthetic biology
  • non-animal technologies
  • biofilms
  • energy harvesting
  • graphene
  • new imaging technologies

New technologies and capabilities can improve productivity and efficiency in existing industries across the UK economy. These areas include:

  • cyber security
  • data
  • the internet of things
  • satellite earth observation
  • electronics, sensors and photonics
  • robotics and autonomous systems

£25m in Health, Life Science, Agritech and Bio-Medical technology grants available now

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£25m in Health, Life Science, Agritech and Bio-Medical technology 

There is renewed support for the development new exciting Health, Life Science, Agricultural and Bio-Medical technologies. Over £25m in grant funding is available across two schemes, with the deadline for applications in early April. Opportunities exist in the following areas;

Competition themes

  • Increasing agricultural productivity – advanced and precision engineering; fighting agro-chemical and antimicrobial resistance; enhancing resilience to biotic and abiotic stress; individualised livestock/aquaculture nutrition and healthcare; novel genetics and breeding.
  • Improved food quality and sustainability – authenticity and traceability; enhanced nutritional value; food safety; modern methods of food manufacturing; new and smarter ingredients; protein development; smarter packaging.
  • Precision medicine – paediatrics and child health; stratification in primary care and the community, including direct-to-consumer products; companion diagnostics; antimicrobial resistance; precision medicine and advanced therapies.
  • Advanced therapies – preclinical testing and advanced therapies; preparation and execution of early clinical trials; developing tools and technologies that help new therapies launch in the health sector.
  • Preclinical technologies – developing and validating new in silico, in vitro and in vivo medicines testing before human trials; techniques to improve success and safety in drug discovery; approaches relevant to the agrichemical, chemical and personal care industries.
  • Biosciences – synthetic biology; computational systems biology; characterisation and discovery tools; bio-based and sustainable solutions.
  • Biomedical – disease prevention and proactive management of health and chronic conditions; earlier and better detection and diagnosis of disease, leading to better patient outcomes; tailored treatments that either change the underlying disease or offer potential cures.

Funding and project details

Innovate UK have allocated up to £25 million to fund innovation projects. Project should focus on technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development.

All projects must involve at least one SME and a business must lead the project.

The funding ranges from 35% up to 70% of total R&D costs (labour, overheads, materials, IP, subcontractors). Projects are expected to last from 6 months to 3 years and to range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million.

The closing dates for the schemes are early April so those thinking of applying should begin to think about their applications now.

If you would like any further details on the schemes highlighted or to discuss a potential project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

About Tatton Consulting

We help innovative and growing SMEs identify, apply for and secure the funding and grants that they are eligible for. Our team has secured over £26.5 million in repayment-free, interest-free, equity-free funding to help our clients innovate and grow.

If you would like to explore what funding opportunities are available at the moment or would like to discuss your project then please;

Alternatively contact us by clicking on one of the links below. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your project further.

— Mark Clayton 

Managing Director

@UKgrantfunding

*** New grant funding for UK Food & Drink manufacturers ***

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The long-awaited Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) has now been launched, covering many of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas in the country.

RDPE provides funding for projects in England that create jobs and growth in the rural economy. Under the RDPE Growth Programme there are grants for business development, food processing, and rural tourism infrastructure. The grants are funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which is part of the European Structural & Investment Funds (ESIF), and are delivered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Who can apply? Food and drink businesses that process agricultural and horticultural products (e.g. meat, milk, grain, root vegetables and soft fruit). Any size business can apply, but priority is given to SMEs.

Eligible expenditure? Constructing or improving buildings, new equipment and machinery

How much? This depends on each LEP area and the type of products that you produce. The minimum grant award starts at £35,000 up to a maximum of £1.0m in some LEP areas.

Level of funding? De Minimis State Aid rules apply with a maximum 40% intervention rate but other State Aid rules can be applied in certain cases at a 20% maximum. In Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, intervention rates of 50% are possible and large businesses without an agricultural holding number can apply for up to 25% of eligible costs for NEW economic activity.

Outputs? Satisfy local LEP priorities and achieve at least two of – create new jobs (at least 1 FTE for every £30,000 grant), increase turnover & profitability, improve productivity, provide direct benefits to local farmers and growers, create new links between growers and processors, and sell more products locally, nationally or through exports.

Location? UK wide. Unlike the business development and rural tourism elements of the RDPE scheme, which are postcode sensitive, it is possible for a food & drink processor to be located in an urban area provided they can demonstrate a benefit to rural areas.

How to apply? The application process is in two parts, typically taking between 5-6 months. There is an Expression of Interest deadline of 31st January 2018 and final claims submitted by 31st March 2019, subject to availability of funds.

Know someone who would be eligible?  If so, then let us and them know. In addition to helping them access an interest-free, repayment-free, equity-free grant to grow their business, we also pay healthy commission on all referrals passed to us.

All consultations and grant finding is done free of charge and we only earn once both parties have identified a suitable opportunity with a good chance of success. For further details please click here.

Questions? If you would like to explore what funding opportunities are available at the moment or would like to discuss your project, then please;

Alternatively contact us by clicking on one of the links below. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your project further

 — Mark Clayton 

Managing Director

Round 3 of Manufacturing Innovation Grants now open – 70% funding available

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Up to 70% funding available for Manufacturing and Material innovation

The aim of the scheme is to stimulate and broaden innovation in manufacturing and materials. The scheme will fund a range of projects that address identified technical or commercial challenges and lead to increased productivity, competitiveness and growth for UK businesses.

A project must cover at least one of the following areas:

  • Innovation in a manufacturing system, technology, process or business model.For example, in process engineering, industrial biotechnology, mechanical conversion processes, coatings, surface engineering, textiles, supply chain management, new product introduction processes or remanufacture.
  • Innovation in materials development, properties, integration or reuse. For example, for light-weighting, energy generation and storage (heat and electricity), electronics/sensors or operation in demanding environments

Projects must focus on a manufacturing or materials innovation, rather than a product innovation. This means the main challenge and risk in the project will be in the manufacturing process or materials development.

Competition themes

Manufacturing

  • addressing the manufacturing readiness of growing sectors
  • the development of more flexible or efficient processes
  • processes that enable greater customisation of products to fit diverging consumer needs
  • the development of materials for targeted performance specifications
  • the development of materials for ease of manufacture
  • the diversification of product and service lines to address new markets
  • the development of novel services that open up new sources of revenue from manufacturing

Materials

Projects that involve one of the following new materials;

  • nanomaterials
  • ceramics
  • metals and inter-metallics
  • polymers
  • composites
  • coatings
  • smart materials
  • joining of dissimilar materials

Funding and project details

Innovate UK have allocated up to £15 million to fund innovation projects. There are £5 million available for projects lasting up to 1 year, £5 million for projects lasting up to 2 years and £5 million for projects up to 3 years.

For technical feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get:

  • up to 70% of your eligible project costs if you are a micro/small business
  • up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
  • up to 50% if you are a large business

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get:

  • up to 45% of your eligible project costs if you are a micro/small business
  • up to 35% if you are a medium-sized business
  • up to 25% if you are a large business

Projects are expected to last from 6 months to 3 years and to range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million.

Know someone who would be eligible?

If so, then let us and them know! In addition to helping them access an interest-free, repayment-free, equity-free grant to grow their business, we also pay healthy commission on all referrals passed to us.

All consultations and grant finding is done free of charge and we only earn once both parties have identified a suitable opportunity with a good chance of success. For further details please click here.

About Tatton Consulting

We help innovative and growing SMEs identify, apply for and secure the funding and grants that they are eligible for. Our team has secured over £26.5 million in repayment-free, interest-free, equity-free funding to help our clients innovate and grow. Fundable projects include;

  • R&D led innovation
  • Capital investment and expansion
  • Development of Green technology
  • Patent development
  • Technology-driven start-ups

If you would like to explore what funding opportunities are available at the moment or would like to discuss your project, then please;

Alternatively contact us by clicking on one of the links below. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing your project further

  — Mark Clayton 

Managing Director