South West Chosen as the Country's Marine & Maritime 'Launchpad'
Great news for The Great South West which encompasses Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and the Isles of Scilly – the region is set to receive up to £7.5m of investment to boost innovation and growth to bolster its strengths in the marine and maritime sectors. For the fuller picture please read the bulletin below which was issued today by Insider New Media.
Roger Mundy, Managing Director, Beardsley Theobalds, 24th October 2023
Great South West named as Marine and Maritime Launchpad
The Great South West – which covers Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and the Isles of Scilly – has been chosen as the country's Marine and Maritime Launchpad.
As part of the programme, the region is set to receive up to £7.5m of investment to drive innovation and business growth, building on its strengths in marine and maritime.
The initiative has been developed jointly by the Great South West and Maritime UK South West alongside regional partners – in its role as the programme board for the Great South West – and Innovate UK.
UK-registered organisations can now apply for funding from Innovate UK for business-led projects that grow activities in the marine and maritime cluster in the Great South West.
The competition for funding opens on 23 October 2023 and closes on 6 December 2023.
Kevin Forshaw, chair of Maritime UK South West and director of industrial and strategic partnerships at University of Plymouth, said: "The innovation funding announced in the Great South West Marine and Maritime Launchpad is a fantastic opportunity to boost levels of innovation, exploiting what is already a world-class ocean economy cluster to create commercial solutions to the challenges facing our sector.
"I am proud to chair the Maritime UK South West cluster and help support government, industry and academia to collaborate and develop the South West regional economy, creating a cleaner, high growth, digitally enabled sector."
Innovate UK's Launchpads programme recognises industry clusters with the potential to create jobs, growth and productivity, and unlocks funding from £15,000 to £1m to support SMEs driving innovation in their area.
Indro Mukerjee, chief executive of Innovate UK, added: "Innovate UK has been building strong regional partnerships across the UK to support local innovation and commercialisation.
"Today's launch of the Marine and Maritime Launchpad is an important step and another example of active collaboration with regional partners to deliver growth and productivity through innovation."
