The 4th Stakeholder Meeting in UK was held online on 2nd June 2020. The event was organised by the Lead Partner Coventry University Enterprises Ltd and involved the participation of a few key stakeholders from the local government (Local Authority, Coventry City Council).
The event started with an overview of the project and its specific objectives, the Regions and organisations involved as well as the progress to date. It followed a presentation about the Good Practices selected for the West Midlands and the purpose of the Action Plan for the region that needs to be finalised by the end of semester 6 (May 2021).
This led to a lively discussion between the participants. Coventry City Council has been very active in supporting local businesses to recover from impacts of COVID-19, particularly in supporting businesses with ongoing costs and adapting to new regulations. Central to their work has been the administration of grants to all Coventry businesses receiving Small Business Rate Relief or in the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Sectors; they also launched Discretionary Grants for other small businesses, with manufacturers a priority sector and have been active in signposting businesses across all sectors to other UK Government Support Schemes aimed at mitigating against the impact of COVID-19, including Bounce Back Loans, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the government helps to pay the wages of furloughed workers).
Referencing to the transport sector, the general feeling is that transport will not be the same as before the virus. In the past the emphasis was more on the use of public transport, now the investments are in favour of cycling and the use of e-scooters.
The Council is also leading a range of schemes that continues to be active in supporting innovation in SMEs supplying the transport sector including major ERDF programmes covering Coventry & Warwickshire, and all of these schemes will play a vital role in supporting local SMEs during the economic recovery (more details can be found on www.coventry.gov.uk/info/13/invest_in_coventry/2423/business_support_in_coventry).
Internationalisation is also considered key for recovery. Therefore, all programmes are expected to refer businesses with exporting potential to the Department for International Trade (CW Chamber International Hub) as well as to specialist innovation support from the local universities.
Some ideas about the RECREATE Action Plan have been explored. The Project Team is going to analyse them further and investigate more the SME support programmes ahead of the next Stakeholder Meeting.