A programme of grants and support for local businesses is being rolled out by Nottingham’s two universities that provide access to talent and expertise to help drive innovation, productivity and skills in the city.
The Talent and Innovation Grants project has received £124,441 from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The scheme was run for the first time last year and saw 60 businesses receiving financial support through a mixture of Talent Grants and Innovation Vouchers.
Under the Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement, The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University are again working with Nottingham City Council to offer Talent Grants of up to £2,000 which can be used to subsidise the recruitment of a university graduate or student for a minimum of eight weeks.
In addition, Innovation Vouchers of up to £5,000 will be offered to city businesses through the Universities for Nottingham Innovation Centres of Excellence, enabling them to access a range of technically-focussed support and consultancy leveraging research facilities and expertise from across the two universities.
To qualify for either grants, businesses need to demonstrate that the graduate/student project/role would be used to implement or improve technology or processes, enable the business to enter new markets, improve or implement new products or services, improve productivity or increase business sustainability.
