Medtech and life sciences businesses in Nottingham will continue to receive support from Medilink Midlands, following its bid with Nottingham City Council to be part of the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
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Medilink Midlands has received £271,872 from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to deliver business growth support to the medtech and health tech industry across the city of Nottingham.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a part of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and is to provide £2.6bn of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, people and skills.
Part of the UKSPF’s Supporting Local Businesses fund, the Business Growth fund aims to support start-up businesses, support businesses with innovation and R&D, and provide tailored dedicated support in order to grow business productivity, increase the local business pool and drive growth in the economy. Its main objective is to support high growth, high value jobs and sectors, as well as sectors that are significant or important to Nottingham.
As one of four organisations awarded Business Growth grant funding, Medilink Midlands’ project will focus on the delivery of business and innovation support to companies already in, or transitioning into, the life science and medtech sector within Nottingham.
Chief executive of Medilink Midlands Simon Himsworth said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding which we will use to help stimulate a culture of innovation across Nottingham, and further develop our comprehensive, integrated, co-ordinated life science ecosystem to support companies to accelerate their ideas to market.”
“Medilink Midlands has been delivering innovation support to Nottingham SMEs for a number of years,” Himsworth explained. “Using our comprehensive cross-sectoral knowledge and networks across the med tech and life sciences industry, this project will enable us to support more companies in the city to increase their competitive advantage and facilitate collaborations with industry suppliers and partners, academic research, the NHS, local government, and other sector stakeholders.
“We are committed to delivering opportunities for business growth across the East and West Midlands regions, and await the outcomes of other bid applications which we hope will further enable us to set a precedent for the delivery of life sciences support in the Midlands as a whole.”
Robert Dixon, head of business growth and inward investment at Nottingham City Council, said: “We are delighted that Medilink Midlands will be using our UKSPF funding to provide business support for the life science sector in Nottingham. Nottingham is an increasingly nationally important home to many new life science businesses, based on the strengths of the two universities, the home of BioCity/Pioneer Group, which is Europe’s most successful life science incubator, and Boots – the UK’s premier health and wellbeing retailer. We are confident that Medilink Midlands can support businesses to grow with its concept of creating synergies between business, academic research, and NHS and healthcare providers.”
Professor Steve Morgan, director of the Centre for Healthcare Technologies at the University of Nottingham, said: “We are proud to be partnering with Medilink Midlands on this exciting project with Nottingham City Council. The medical technologies sector in Nottingham is vibrant and growing, and we are delighted to be able to play our part in facilitating further growth by supporting the adoption and adaptation of new knowledge and innovation for local businesses.”
Simon Himsworth added: “The life sciences sector in Nottingham is incredibly diverse, with many innovations and technologies being developed to address socio-economic and health issues. Through additional support, these innovations can be developed and accelerated through the development process and can play a key role in the ‘levelling-up’ of Nottingham city.”
Medilink Midlands is the Midlands life sciences industry association with a vision to stimulate the growth of the Midlands life science sector by helping companies establish, develop, and grow.