UN SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Overview

In addition to our contributions in research and teaching, we are incredibly proud of our track record in supporting business in Lincolnshire and beyond. During the academic year 21/22 we supported 237 businesses to improve their productivity and efficiency, introduce new innovations, and grow their business through our business support programmes led by academics and professional services staff.

Funded by the European Union, the University of Lincoln invests in infrastructure and services for Greater Lincolnshire businesses, driving productivity, innovation, and growth, and leading a series of activities totalling approximately £7 million over the 4-year period which ended in June 2023. Activity included supporting individuals with ambitions to start a business, and those in their early stages; engaging our own academics in a wide range of disciplines and specialisms, enabling businesses an unprecedented opportunity to tap into this wealth of sector specific knowledge to drive forward a new idea, product or service; and injecting higher level skills into the workforce, delivering pioneering research, skills provision, and knowledge exchange. These activities have delivered over 1000 business assists.

Programme Examples

The Productivity Programme has been co-developed in partnership with Lincolnshire Council and the Lincoln Science Innovation Park engaging more than 750 businesses over the last 4 years. The main focus is on supporting businesses through funding, to implement and enable productivity improvements in their business, building engagement that will lead to enhanced levels of productivity within the SME community. This programme provided fully funded access to university expertise, technical support, and academic know-how.

Delivery of this support is considered a crucial element of enabling improved business productivity and in comparison to the previous national provision through UK Research and Innovation, does not discriminate on the basis of value of application, geography within the LEP area, sector, or business need.

In order to support high-growth SMEs in the Greater Lincolnshire area, this project has established a core group of an investors located at the Lincoln Science and Innovation Park who have formed working relationships with other business angel groups and venture capital funds in the wider region, enabling over 90 SMEs seeking equity investment to refine their proposals and strategies to increase investment activity in Greater Lincolnshire.

Greater Lincolnshire Productivity Hubs extends the reach of the current business support infrastructure in Greater Lincolnshire and adds value to the University’s Productivity Programme through the creation of series of hubs in areas where there are specific clusters of businesses with innovation and growth potential but no University of Lincoln business support or Greater Lincolnshire Growth Hub presence, specifically in Scunthorpe, Boston, and Grimsby. The Productivity Hubs programme was established in 2020 and has assisted over 260 SMEs, providing an intensive programme of support to what might be considered high growth potential business ideas in order to help develop a more dynamic and innovative business base.

Case Studies

Eye Guide MC  

Productivity Programme has been working with a Lincolnshire woman, Sandra McDonough, who has battled Parkinson’s disease for more than 18 years and has now invented a device that could help 145,000 people living with the condition in the UK to manage and control their symptoms and improve their quality of life. You can hear more about Sandra's story on YouTube.

Matthew Cox

Matthew Cox is bespoke furniture maker in Stamford which creates one-off pieces for customers all over the world from London to LA – with a fifty percent match-funded productivity grant. Using the grant during the pandemic, Matthew Cox has been able to purchase augmented reality technology to create 3D furniture models, enabling customers to see furniture pieces in their own homes, either through the website or through social media channels such as Instagram. Similarly, using this new technology interior designers can also place furniture in the homes of their clients to see if it would fit. One of the major challenges the company faces is trying to create a scalable business with made-to-measure products as each piece of furniture it produces is bespoke to each customer.

Graduate Start Up

University of Lincoln graduates Matt and Holly were videographers who wanted to turn their passion into a viable income. The Growing Graduate Enterprise programme was able to quickly help them turn their hobby into a business and provided much-needed vital support in the important early stages of their business. Through mentoring, Growing Graduate Enterprise helped them overcome common start-up challenges such as how to invoice, deal with real clients, and how to market to their audience. Hear more about their story on YouTube.