Key Information
Investment
| ERDF | £727,900.00 | |
| Private sector match | £181,975.00 | |
| Total | £909,875.00 |
Status
Delivered
Fund
ERDF
Fund Theme
Business support
Location
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
Projects
Cornish High Value Manufacturing Investment Programme (HVMIP)
The project will be delivered by SWMAS Ltd a manufacturing businesses support company in the South West.
SWMAS will work closely with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Growth Hub, supporting Cornwall’s economic priorities and smart specialisation objectives, responding flexibly to new priorities and changing demand.
SME (small and medium sized enterprise) manufacturers in all sectors can realise high value through improved product design and utilising advanced materials and processes. The project will utilise manufacturing specialists to offer free, hands-on advice to SMEs at their premises creating a High Value Manufacturing (HMV) plan outlining business milestones.
An HVM plan may include development of a new product or production process or the recruitment and training of staff. The HVM plan will also explore how the SME could engage and collaborate with local (e.g. Growth Hub, universities) and national (e.g. High Value Manufacturing Catapult) organisations and centres of excellence.
The plan will identify support from external experts (e.g. academics, product designers, strategic coaches) that the business requires to create additional value, but cannot fund without support. Grants will be available of between £1k and £10k to fund this work at a 55% intervention rate (avg. value: £2.8k). The project is planning to engage with 130 manufacturing businesses and assist 90 of them including at least 20 new enterprises.
The project will build upon SWMAS’ “Knowledge in Manufacturing” / “Product Development Centre” ERDF project in Cornwall and the wider region. This helped Cornish SMEs move up the value chain, employ graduates, and implement new technology. The learning and experience will be leveraged with further integration between the project, LEP priorities and Innovate UK’s five point high value manufacturing strategy. In Cornwall, the HVMIP project will deliver alongside the Local Manufacturing Advisory Programme (LMAP), an ERDF-funded project also delivered by SWMAS. The HVMIP project will provide support to high value manufacturing businesses in the sectors described above.