The Higher Education Commission's inquiry into university research and its role in tackling regional economy prosperity will hold its second evidence session on Thursday 15th April.

The session will be chaired by Chris Skidmore MP, former Minister for Universities, and Lord Norton of Louth, joint chairs of the Higher Education Commission.

This session will investigate the experiences of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) undertaking research and development in the UK. SMEs account for 99.9% of the UK’s business population, with over 6 million SMEs operating in the UK according to the FSB. As such, if we are to effectively boost R&D output and level-up regional economies, the UK will need to increase the propensity and ability of SMEs to undertake R&D. In this session we will examine the experiences of SMEs undertaking innovation projects, learning about the barriers they faced in collaboration, funding and capacity.

Key witnesses giving evidence include:

• Chinara Rustamova, Senior Policy Adviser at the FSB
• Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership
• Mandy Ridyard, Financial Director at Produmax
• Darin Tudor, Chief Executive of the Defence & Aerospace Innovation Cluster
• Chris McDonald, Chief Executive of the Materials Processing Institute

The session will be broadcast publicly as a webinar, and interested parties are welcome to register to observe the session using the following link: https://policyconnect-org-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1008k3QxRkaFpim2vKdPyg. 

To ask any questions about the inquiry or to let us know accessibility requirements for the session, please contact Liz North at Liz.North [at] policyconnect.org.uk.