Cornwall Development Company/Cornwall Council
TIP’s relationship with CDC and Cornwall Council began in 2015 when the consultancy, alongside Meirion Thomas (CM International), won a competitive tender to undertake a staged evaluation of the £38m Cornwall Innovation Centres programme. The evaluation provided insight into the specific requirements of rural, creative-industry companies, input into future management and direction of the Centres and a strategy and approach for graduation of supported enterprises. The following projects have built on that initial project and the knowledge of regional requirements and strengths/best practice identified through the work:
Review of Future Investment Priorities to Progress the CIoS Smart Specialisation Strategy (Cornwall Council, ITI Support Team, 2018):
Cornwall Council issued a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for a consultancy exercise to consider future investment priorities, encompassing the key sectors of Agritech, E-Health and E-Wellbeing, Digital Economy, Marine Technology, and Space and Aerospace. The Innovation Partnership Ltd reviewed all PA1 (2014-20) projects and provided recommendations on the scope of the following funding round.
The Consultants undertook a review of the contracted pipeline projects and identified gaps in the Smart Specialisation RD&I offer when compared with the CIoS SSS. The principal output of the work was to assist with determining future strategic investment needs to drive growth within the Smart Specialisation markets and inform the content of any future PA1 ERDF calls.
The investigation primarily covered ERDF Priority Axis 1 (PA1) – Promoting Research & Innovation. The key objectives of the exercise were to:
1. Review the ten contracted/pipeline ERDF PA1 projects.
2. Provide a summary assessment of where CIoS will be in relation to the innovation ecosystem once these projects are delivering.
3. Consult with the wider stakeholder community to identify strategic investment opportunities to address market failure and drive RD&I growth.
4. Identify gaps between the England ERDF Operational Programme (OP) output targets and the contracted pipeline projects.
5. Review the information gathered against ERDF Investment Priority 1b (the focus of the first PA1 Call in CIoS) and determine where the identified gaps have ‘best fit’.
6. High level identification of linkages with ESF and EAFRD activities.
Examples of Added Value Delivered by the Consultants
Examining requirements for the next call, the Consultants recommended:
1. Including more long-term commercialisation activities.
2. Encouraging and replicating successful measures such as ‘challenge funds’ across the Smart Specialisation areas. This was seen as an excellent way of getting funding to where it was most required and a good way to widen the participation of beneficiaries.
3. How Smart Specialisation markets might work on cross-sector activities. Interviewees identified an opportunity to promote specific technologies, such as Digital, that cover more than one sector and encourage bids from different RD&I groups and delivery mechanisms.
4. Enhanced alignment with ESF measures.
5. Identification of measures to identify and nurture fast growth e-Health/e-Wellbeing SMEs focused on RD&I.
As a result of the research undertaken, the Consultants provided four options in relation to future PA1 calls. Following presentation to the ITI Board, a Task and Finishing Group was commissioned to confirm the likely option. The options, in brief, were as follows:
Option 1: Open Call – an Open Call as per the first call.
Option 2: Targeted Call – focused on a Smart Specialisation sector or sectors or a technology platform that is non-sector specific, such as Digital or Big Data. These could be aimed at significant local and international challenges.
Option 3: Large-Scale, Strategic Projects – invest the funding in one or two major investment-type projects to build long-term capability and inward investment appeal.
Option 4: Combination – this option is very much dependent on the available financial resource and would be a combination or blend of the above.
Provision of Non-Financial SME Support for CDC BIG Advanced Advisory Service
In 2020, The Innovation Partnership Ltd was successful with a competitive tender to provide non- financial support to eligible SMEs under the Cornwall Development Council Business Investment for Growth (BIG) Advanced Advisory Service, with the first cohort of beneficiaries due in July 2020 but delayed due to COVID-19 and associated lockdown restrictions.
For this contract, we put together a team of eight consultants, covering areas such as productivity, new product development, raising finance and identifying new product and market opportunities for CIoS SMEs. Delivery was by way of 12-hour assists at no cost to the beneficiary enterprise, with outputs based around improving business performance and providing access to the funding – up to £100k at a 45% intervention rate – to regional businesses.
To date, the BIG Programme has supported enterprises in various sectors, including Manufacturing, Business Services, ICT/Creative Media, Environmental/Low Carbon, Distribution/Logistics, Food and Drink, Medical/Biotech, Advanced Engineering/Aerospace, Marine, Art/Architecture, Creative and Tourism. The Advanced Advisory Service has now gone through the pilot phase, which produced highly encouraging results.