WBS launches new £2.9m Enterprise Research Centre for SMEs
Shown here at the launch event, left to right, are: Mark Hart (Aston Business School), Julia King (Vice Chancellor of Aston University), Nigel Thrift (Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick), and Stephen Roper (Director of the Enterprise Research Centre).A new £2.9m Enterprise Research Centre, designed to boost the performance of the UK’s small and medium-sized companies, was launched officially at Warwick Business School on Monday 14 January 2013.
WBS has joined forces with Aston Business School to create the Enterprise Research Centre. The centre’s research will inform Government policy to help create the right environment for SMEs and entrepreneurs to flourish and so support the UK’s economic recovery.
ERC director, Professor Stephen Roper, wants the centre to become the focal point for advice, research and information for SMEs up and down the country.
Stephen, Associate Dean, Professor of Enterprise and Director of the Centre for SMEs at WBS, said:
We have three main ambitions for the centre: to conduct and publish exciting and novel research; to provide the evidence for better growth strategy in the UK; and to establish the Enterprise Research Centre as a reference point for anyone interested in issues around business growth.
The aim of the launch is to rapidly establish the position of the ERC as part of the SME research and policy landscape in the UK and to introduce the ERC as a source of evidence-based, independent, and trustworthy intelligence and advice on issues related to SME growth.”
Funding for the centre has come from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the British Bankers Association (BBA), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Technology Strategy Board.
Warwick and Aston University will work alongside a consortium of other universities including Imperial College Business School, Strathclyde, Birmingham, and De Montfort.
The ERC’s work will be vital in making sure the Government makes evidence-based decisions for long-term policy and to improve the business environment.