Hannes Read discusses a study looking at the impacts of COVID-19 on business districts and working practices, and what the way forward might be. The Future Business District Study Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many people and businesses have been required to work from home rather than the office. The sudden shift away from working in … Continue reading “Looking Ahead: The Future Business District Study and the Future of the Office”
Category: Business
Covid-19 and Business: Has Government Support Worked?
Alice Pugh looks at the impact of lockdown on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), what support they’ve received and how they have fared compared to their larger counterparts. Covid-19 has created significant shocks throughout the business base. In the first wave, 47% of all UK industries reported that their turnover had been lower than normal … Continue reading “Covid-19 and Business: Has Government Support Worked?”
COVID-19 Business Support Grants in England: Analysing and Evaluating Successes of Government Policy
Hannes Read looks at the intentions and outcomes of the Small Business, Retail Hospitality & Leisure, and Discretionary Grant Funds in England from March 2020 to September 2020. The UK government response to support businesses in England following the coronavirus pandemic included the £11.7bn Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF), Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant Fund … Continue reading “COVID-19 Business Support Grants in England: Analysing and Evaluating Successes of Government Policy”
Accelerator Programmes and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr Juliane Schwarz presents the findings from a study examining the effects of COVID-19 and nationwide lockdowns on an accelerator programme based in London, and how the move to online provision has impacted their work. Accelerators are start-up programmes that bring entrepreneurs together, face-to-face, for intensive interaction with experts and other entrepreneurs. As cities in … Continue reading “Accelerator Programmes and the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Budget Breakdown 2021 and the Key Points for the West Midlands
Mike Lewis, Senior Policy Officer at the West Midlands Combined Authority provides a breakdown of HMG’s Budget announcement 2021 and highlights some of the key points of interest to the West Midlands. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak presented HMG’s Budget 2021 to the House of Commons on 3 March 2021. The Chancellor outlined measures … Continue reading “Budget Breakdown 2021 and the Key Points for the West Midlands”
University Incubators as Part of a Wider Regional Innovation System
Dr Juliane Schwarz looks at the differences between incubators and accelerators, how they support fledgling businesses to grow, and the role universities can play in this process. This blog is an introduction to the WM REDI project “University Incubator: Comparative Analysis, Pathways to Impact and Relative Regional Effects“. The project investigates university incubators and, as … Continue reading “University Incubators as Part of a Wider Regional Innovation System”
University-Industry Relationships and Spill-over Effects in the West Midlands: The Case of the ARLI Collaborative Research Project
Dr Juliane Schwarz discusses the role initiatives can play in transferring knowledge from Universities to Industry, looking specifically at the ARLI programme. This blog is an introduction to the WMREDI project “University-Industry Relationships and Spillover Effects”. The project aims to increase our understanding of university knowledge commercialisation pathways building on existing research in the … Continue reading “University-Industry Relationships and Spill-over Effects in the West Midlands: The Case of the ARLI Collaborative Research Project”
City-REDI Policy Briefing: Which Kinds of Firms Contribute Most to Regional Growth?
In this policy briefing, Dr Fengjie Pan and Professor Simon Collinson look at why some firms and sectors make a larger contribution to local and regional economies than others. Many City-REDI projects aim to help policymakers optimise the use of scarce public resources to promote economic growth and wellbeing locally and regionally. Some of these policies … Continue reading “City-REDI Policy Briefing: Which Kinds of Firms Contribute Most to Regional Growth?”
City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity
In this policy briefing, Dr Magda Cepeda Zorrilla, Professor Anne Green, Dr Chloe Billing, Professor Simon Collinson and Dr Fengjie Pan report on the findings of their study which collected data from 300 firms across the West Midlands, examining what managers at these companies understood productivity to be, the policy implications of their varied understanding … Continue reading “City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity”
Homeworking and the Return to the Office – Part Two
In the second part of a blog looking at home working and the return to the office, Professor Anne Green and Rebecca Riley look at the motivation to return to work, how homeworking is impacting on inequality and what the future might mean for home working. View part one. Motivation to return to offices Cities … Continue reading “Homeworking and the Return to the Office – Part Two”