Grants of up to £7,500 to support SMEs in the Liverpool City Region to enter or grow in the renewable energy supply chain.

LCR Future Energy is a £2.0 million business support programme delivered by Inventya Solutions, Liverpool John Moores University and Inventya Ltd. Support is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the public and the private sector. It has been developed with and for the sector. The flexible support will help SMEs to understand and meet the needs of the renewable energy supply chain and provide access to networking, promotional and contract opportunities.

LCR FUTURE ENERGY WILL PROVIDE:

An understanding of the requirements of the supply chain – LCR Future Energy will provide advice and guidance on how to secure and deliver contracts, for example, sourcing tender opportunities, bid writing, presentations, quality standards, and contractual expectations. Grants of up to £7,500 towards consultancy costs – A 30% grant contribution up to £7,500 is available to help fund the cost of external expertise to help SMEs to develop products, systems and processes required by the market. Examples include IP, quality assurance and marketing.

Grants of up to £1,250 towards national and international tradeshow stand space – a 25% grant contribution towards taking a stand at an exhibition in the UK or overseas.

Procurement validation service – Liverpool John Moores University will provide bespoke procurement guidance to assist SMEs in securing contracts and managing their upstream and downstream supply chains. This will include an assessment of current practices and a gap analysis. LJMU can also offer advice on responding to pre-qualification questionnaires, the approach to the development of comprehensive tenders and communication with existing and new customers. Independent technology, service and process validation is also available.

National and global market research – Delivery of up to 3 days of market research, competitor analysis and the provision of key contacts.

LCR Future Energy will also provide networking, promotional opportunities and promote contracts.