HLAS

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £3 million in collaborative innovation projects, including partnerships with: The National Physical Laboratory The National Measurement Laboratory The National Engineering Laboratory The Science and Technology Facilities Council National Institute for Biological Standards and Control National Gear Metrology Lab Newton Gateway to Mathematics Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies This competition is split into two strands. These are: A4I round 8 - main strand (for projects with total costs of £15,000 to £120,000) A4I round 8 - mini projects (for projects with total costs of up to £50,000) To be [...]

Do you know how to address drug and alcohol misuse at work? Employers have a legal duty to protect employees’ health, safety and welfare. Understanding the signs of drug and alcohol misuse (or abuse) will help you manage health and safety risks in your workplace. The HSE website has step-by-step guidance to help you manage drug and alcohol misuse at work. This includes advice on how to develop a drugs and alcohol policy and what you can do to support your employees.

Pubs, cafes and restaurants will be able to take advantage of the warm weather and keep serving customers al fresco. Temporary changes brought in during COVID-19, which made it quicker, easier and cheaper for businesses to get a licence to serve food and drink on pavements and pedestrianised roads, have been extended. The extension will continue until the changes are made permanent in the spring. The change was first introduced to help businesses keep operating during the pandemic and was widely welcomed by the public, café owners and pub landlords. The government will make these changes permanent in the Levelling [...]

At the end of July, the government finally got around to publishing its response to the 2018 consultation on employment status. The consultation took place as the result of government concerns over false self-employment, particularly in the “Gig” economy. Employers and professional bodies have heavily criticised the updated guidance as it still lacks clarity. There is even separate guidance to employers and engagers dealing with employment rights and tax status: Employment status and rights: checklist for employers and other engagers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Check employment status for tax - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Part of the problem is the lack of detail [...]

Households need to brace for a prolonged period of high inflation and further interest rate rises. The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has warned that he will take forceful action to tackle inflation, already running at 9.4% and forecast to hit double figures later this year. He defended the decision last week to raise interest rates, saying there is a "real risk" of soaring prices becoming "embedded". Interest rates rose to 1.75% - the biggest rise in 27 years - with inflation now set to hit more than 13%. The UK is forecast to fall into recession [...]

With ever-increasing supplier prices, a rise in interest rates and a looming recession, managing your business's cash and understanding the flow are now vital tools in maintaining resilience and being able to adopt flexible strategies for success. Cash flows are a reflection of all the cash that is flowing in and out of a business. Owners can look at the direction of the cash flows for insights into the health of specific products or services and overall market patterns. Some types of businesses are more likely to run into cash flow problems, while other types appear to be more resilient. [...]

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, has launched the Design Foundations July 2022 funding competition. This will invest up to £2 million in early-stage innovation projects that use people and planet-centred design processes and expertise. The competition aims to help businesses develop new ideas that will deliver benefits for people and the planet, aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These can be for new or significantly improved products, services, places or business models. The competition is for eligible organisations that want to test and improve the customer experience, social and environmental benefits of their early-stage ideas, as [...]

Up to £25 million is available for disruptive research and development (R&D) innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy. All proposals must be business-focused, with deliverable, realistic and adequately resourced plans to achieve return on investment, growth and market share following project completion. Applications can come from any area of technology and be applied to any part of the economy, such as, but not exclusively: Net-zero The arts Design and media This round of Smart grants reflects the importance of obtaining economic benefits from public funding, and the potential for successful commercialisation, growth and exports. To be in the scope, your [...]

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is working with the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to run a Privacy Enhancing Technologies Challenge. This is part of an aligned programme with the US National Science Foundation, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This challenge aims to accelerate the development and adoption of privacy-preserving federated learning approaches and build trust in their adoption. To achieve this, participants are asked to develop approaches that: Leverage a combination of input and output privacy techniques. Deliver strong privacy guarantees against a [...]

The Healthy Ageing market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. The market in China is the largest geographically-defined opportunity. The Accelerator Programme includes a de-risking pathway to enter this market and make UK businesses competitive, as well as growth and export-ready. The Innovation Exchange Program is working alongside Oxford Innovation Advice and the UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), to find innovative companies that are ambitious to grow their business. They seek innovators with new product or service ideas that can support us to stay healthy and active, and help us to remain mobile and [...]