News Article

The campaign to encourage more North East businesses to ‘work smarter’ has received a major £1.79m boost from the European Regional Development Fund.

The money has been awarded to Knowledge House, an organisation that works with all five North East universities – Durham, Teesside, Sunderland, Northumbria and Newcastle – to set up collaborative projects between business people and academics.

Through the Knowledge House Consultancy Assistance Scheme, the fund will subsidise specialist consultancy provided by university experts to SMEs across the region.

Mark Jackson, business development director at Knowledge House, said: “The scheme has proved crucial in facilitating fruitful partnerships between regional businesses and our universities.

“Experience has shown businesses can sometimes be reluctant to engage with universities at first and the intervention of reduced cost has a significant positive impact.

“Initially, business people didn’t really understand how universities could help grow their companies.

“Today, it is much better understood that by tapping into the phenomenal expertise and facilities to be found in North East universities, companies can learn how to work smarter, more effectively, more efficiently and with greater initiative.

“The new funding will ensure that this continues and will be a significant factor in the development of the regional economy over the next two years.”

For eligible companies, the scheme provides 50% of the costs of consultancy projects.

With its headquarters in Sunderland and managers based at each of the region’s universities, Knowledge House has been operating for 11 years. It has dealt with more than 5000 enquiries, leading to over 1,600 contracts with an order value of some £14.5 million.

“Nearly half of that has been achieved within the past three years, illustrating the increasing realisation by SMEs of the value that universities can bring,” said Mr Jackson.

Many of the projects related primarily to the development of new products and processes by client companies, alongside business mentoring and growth, which would not have proceeded without Knowledge House intervention.

For further information about the scheme, contact Dawn Lycett, Marketing Manager, T 0191 516 4408 E d.lycett@knowledgehouse.ac.uk