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Challenge North East launched to fund solutions to solve COVID-19-related issues

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is calling on the regional business community to help it solve some of the biggest Coronavirus-related problems.

Through Challenge North East, a new open innovation programme, the LEP is offering support to SMEs as it seeks to address critical issues facing the North East marketplace while it adapts to a COVID-19 world.

SMEs will be given up to £5k grant funding between January and March 2021 to develop solutions to specific challenges, with the possibility of being in the running to win a grant of up to £40k to scale the most impactful solution in each area.

The first call in the programme is entitled: ‘Together again: Delivering safe and engaging in-person events’. This seeks answers to how people might be able to gather safely again indoors and outdoors, while achieving an engaging experience for those watching at home.

Those interested in helping solve this challenge are invited to attend a virtual launch event on 9 December to hear from organisations who are supporting Challenge North East, including The Baltic, Beamish Museum, The Sage Gateshead and Newcastle United Foundation, and learn about how you can apply to the fund with your solution.

Solutions could revolve around the creative direction of events, digital opportunities, COVID-19-related measures, how people move round venues, public confidence and more.

The second Challenge North East call is known as ‘Adapting In-Home Services’. COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the delivery of services in peoples’ homes, impacting safety, confidence and trust and increasing the need for new approaches. There is also a growing need to ensure in-home service standards remain high. This challenge will launch with a virtual event on 10 December, which will discuss the scope of the challenge and outline how you can apply to the fund with your solution.

Ideas for new ways of working and support for those who deliver and rely on in-home services will be well eligible for funding and development support. This challenge has been shaped by leading regional organisations from Housing Associations, Utilities, Community Support and Social Care, among others.

Alan Welby, director of innovation at the North East LEP, said: “Two of the best things about the North East are its entrepreneurial nature and collaborative spirit. Through Challenge North East, we want to harness both these things to resolve some of the issues that life with COVID-19 has presented.

“We’re confident that these two open innovation challenges will yield some excellent results and can’t wait to see what our regional businesses come back with.”

Challenge North East is being delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork, Digital Catapult North East Tees Valley and Sunderland Software City.

To sign up for one or both of the launch event, and for more information, please visit: www.challengenortheast.co.uk.

Challenge North East has received funding from the government’s Local Growth Fund. The Local Growth Fund is supporting capital investments to promote innovation, economic and skills infrastructure and sustainable transport as part of the North East Growth Deal.

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Universities support North East’s economic recovery: Innovation Northumbria: Incubator

Universities have a vital role to play in helping the North East economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The work being delivered by North East universities is supporting new and existing businesses to innovate and grow, and shaping and supporting a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, University of Sunderland and Teesside University are all members of the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group, which was established by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic to provide business resilience and ensure a collective response to the economic impact of COVID-19 on the North East economy.

Below is a case study from Northumbria University about it’s new Innovation Northumbria: Incubator, which supports its flourishing community of student and graduate start-ups, and provides opportunities for business partners to offer mentoring and financial backing.

Opened in October 2019 next to the University’s main campus, the state-of the-art facility provides high-quality support for student and graduate entrepreneurs, giving them the best possible opportunity to establish and grow thriving businesses.

The initiative has already received financial support from Santander Universities UK, Sir James Knott Trust, North East Times Magazine, Space Group and the North East LEP.

Northumbria is looking for additional support to set up an Enterprise Club, where members can offer pro-bono advice and expertise, and an Enterprise Fund through which they can pledge financial support to help fledgling start-ups develop proof-of-concept and feasibility business plans.

The initiative reinforces Northumbria’s reputation as a university that champions enterprise and innovation through its teaching, and the support it offers start-ups through the Student and Graduate Enterprise Service. Pioneering courses such as Entrepreneurial Business Management – where students run their own businesses – and the student-led consultancy service delivered on the Business Clinic programme, have also established Northumbria as a leader in entrepreneurial education.

The University has been ranked in the top three for graduate start-ups in the UK – based on estimated turnover – since 2011, including five years in first place. Businesses developed by Northumbria graduates had an estimated turnover on £84 million in 2018/19.

Since 2009, Northumbria has supported the development of nearly 300 new businesses which have led to the creation of more than 1,000 jobs, the vast majority of which are in the North East.

To find out more about the Innovation Northumbria: Incubator visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/incubatorlaunch.

Click here to read more about how universities in the region are playing a central role in supporting the region to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Click here to read more about the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group.

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Open innovation programme launched to help tackle COVID-19 issues and fast track solutions.

Businesses invited to detail what issues they are facing due to COVID-19 disruption.

A new programme has been launched by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, (North East LEP), that will seek to understand the common issues facing our region’s businesses due to COVID-19 and help to provide solutions to minimise the ongoing disruption.

Alan Welby, Innovation Director at the North East LEP, said: “Challenge North East is an open innovation programme to help solve some of our region’s most pressing practical problems when faced with COVID-19. And that’s what we’re good at in this region – coming together to solve problems – to resolve our challenges – and make things happen.

“We want to identify areas of shared concern, to invite solutions from the region’s innovators and then help fund the development of these problem-solving ideas.

“Right now, we are asking organisations to tell us what their issues are so we can see where there is common ground across sectors. We are keen to explore solutions to the challenges caused by our current inability to work and socialise in close proximity, disruptions caused in supply chains, new needs that have emerged, such as how we address the risk of digital services leaving behind those of us without digital skills. We want to hear from local industry about what their areas of focus are and then work together to quickly develop solutions that work.”

Challenge North East will be delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork and the Digital Catapult North East Tees Valley.

Estelle Blanks, Executive Director of the Innovation SuperNetwork, said: “COVID-19 has disrupted so many aspects of our work and home lives and we need to work together as a region to support each other as we rebuild.  Our goal through this programme is to work with local industry and communities to identify where innovative solutions will have the biggest impact and to provide the framework and funding to make these solutions happen.

“The Innovation SuperNetwork team who are delivering this programme are passionate about delivering real value for the region and we are excited to work with businesses and communities to ensure we are focusing our attention in the right areas.”

Challenge North East will be rolled out over three phases, starting by bringing together large organisations and representatives of communities that have been impacted by COVID-19.

Through discovering the common themes faced by organisations and their stakeholders, the programme team can then launch a series of challenges for which solutions can be found that will work across multiple sectors and environments.

In the coming weeks, Virtual Round Tables will be held with participants to identify key challenges that need support over the next six to twelve months.

David Dunn of the Digital Catapult North East Tees Valley, said: “To get this programme off the ground, we will be hosting a series of Round Tables with representatives of industry and communities to identify the most common shared challenges and to agree how to tackle finding solutions for them.”

The first Round Table event, was held on 22 October and looked at the impact of COVID-19 on in-person events – for example theatre shows, play groups, and concerts along with public transport.

Organisations from other sectors facing ongoing Covid-related challenges are invited to share details with the Challenge North East team by emailing [email protected] and giving an outline of the challenge they are facing. Organisations that do so will be invited to participate in future Round Tables in early November.

Once the cross-cutting challenges have been identified, the programme will launch a call to the region’s innovators to develop solutions in collaboration with local leaders from industry, government, the third sector and research.

Alan Welby said: “At this stage, we are appealing to those organisations who are really hurting – tell us what the challenges are that you are facing. We’re not calling for the solutions just yet. To get this right, we need to understand the common issues businesses are dealing with and then we will look to see which ones we believe can be resolved through a fast-paced process of open innovation.

“We hope that by December we will be starting to work with companies who can help create solutions to develop and validate their ideas with potential clients.”

Successful solution providers will be awarded development funding to implement the solution and have it rolled out with challenge partners.

To find out more about Challenge North East, visit www.challengenortheast.co.uk

Challenge North East has received funding from the government’s Local Growth Fund. The Local Growth Fund is supporting capital investments to promote innovation, economic and skills infrastructure and sustainable transport as part of the North East Growth Deal.

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Universities support North East’s economic recovery: Network-H2

Universities have a vital role to play in helping the North East economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The work being delivered by North East universities is supporting new and existing businesses to innovate and grow, and shaping and supporting a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, University of Sunderland and Teesside University are all members of the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group, which was established by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic to provide business resilience and ensure a collective response to the economic impact of COVID-19 on the North East economy.

Below is a case study about Durham University’s leading role in a national research project – Network-H2 – to decarbonise transport through hydrogen-fuelled vehicles and technology.

Road, rail, air and marine transport accounts for almost a quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions making it a significant contributor to climate change. Hydrogen offers a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels and can bring significant environmental benefits to transport, society and the wider energy system.

Durham University is leading a national research project to decarbonise transport through hydrogen-fuelled vehicles and technology. Network-H2 brings together international experts from the energy, road, rail, air and marine transport sectors to support the decarbonisation of the whole transport network.

The project is looking at the technological, social, political and economic factors necessary to increase the use of hydrogen as fuel, and knowledge exchange between researchers and industry.

The energy sector has been identified as an area of strategic importance in North East Strategic Economic Plan. It provides huge opportunities to drive and enable regional economic growth, and North East organisations are creating wealth, skills, and jobs in the region by responding to national energy challenges and opportunities.

To find out more about Network-H2, visit www.net-zero-research.co.uk.

Read more about how universities in the region are playing a central role in supporting the region to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more about the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group.

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Universities support North East’s economic recovery: Arrow: Supporting Innovation in the North East

Universities have a vital role to play in helping the North East economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The work being delivered by North East universities is supporting new and existing businesses to innovate and grow, and shaping and supporting a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

Durham University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, University of Sunderland and Teesside University are all members of the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group, which was established by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic to provide business resilience and ensure a collective response to the economic impact of COVID-19 on the North East economy.

Below is a case study about Newcastle University’s Arrow: Supporting Innovation in the North East programme, which accelerates the North East’s economic impact by pairing Newcastle University’s research, knowledge and innovations with the needs of local SMEs.

Arrow: Supporting Innovation in the North East gives SMEs access to more than 2,500 academics, innovators and experts at Newcastle University to help them develop new products or services, access new markets, or gain market share.

Arrow matches businesses with academics, innovation specialists and world-class researchers that can provide insight and expertise in areas such as research and product testing, data analysis and artificial intelligence.

The £3.4m innovation programme can also offer eligible SMEs up to £10,000 of match funding to buy services or equipment including; proof of concept and validation; survey and feasibility testing; product design; development and prototyping; analysis and testing; and commercial and contract research.

To date, more than 50 North East SMEs have received intensive innovation support from Arrow, including Your Health and Care Ltd, which provides complimentary services for people suffering from dementia, and Armatrex Ltd, which utilises expanding foam polymers to mobilise and support injuries.

Arrow works with companies to help drive their businesses forward through innovation and R&D support, leading to new investments and jobs. In line with the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan, Arrow’s target sectors are; life sciences and healthcare; advanced manufacturing; creative and digital technologies; offshore, subsea and energy technologies.

To find out more about Arrow: Supporting Innovation in the North East, visit www.ncl.ac.uk.

Arrow is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Click here to read more about how universities in the region are playing a central role in supporting the region to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Click here to read more about the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group.

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Innovation and the North East’s economic recovery

Alan Welby, Innovation Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and Gillian Hall, newly-appointed Chair of the North East LEP’s Innovation Board, discuss how innovation can bring more jobs to the region and help businesses to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

 

Can you explain what role the Innovation Board plays in helping to drive growth within the North East economy and more and better jobs for its residents?

Gillian: Innovation is one of the areas of focus – alongside skills, business growth, transport and investment – that can help us to increase productivity and the number of jobs in the North East.

Business owners might not think that innovation is something they do but in fact it’s often just about working out a new, better way of doing something. If you’re tweaking your product or processes to find a competitive advantage then that is innovation. If you’ve come up with a new product then that is innovation.

A lot of what we’re doing is around supporting partners to come together to make something bigger than the sum of its parts. The Northern Accelerator partnership between Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland Universities is a brilliant example of this, providing a structure to support the commercialisation of ideas from academics and showing how we can build a knowledge economy with regional assets and regional people.

The Innovation Board is there to increase activity like this and to be a critical friend to the North East LEP’s innovation team.

 

As the newly-appointed Chair of the Innovation Board, what are your priorities for the coming weeks and months?

Gillian: Turning plans into action and keeping things moving forward are my priorities.

We have a big job to do and it’s easy to spread ourselves too thinly. It’s very important for me to make sure that the Board is focused on delivering projects that are going to make a difference and that we achieve the aims set out in the North East Strategic Economic Plan.

We also have very active part to play in the North East’s COVID recovery plan, making sure existing projects have what they need to keep going but also seeing what needs to be done in the short and medium term to support businesses and communities to recover.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly impacted on businesses, with many having to introduce new ways of working or even pivot and change what they do. How important is innovation going to be to help companies through to recovery?

Gillian: Quite naturally, we have a tendency to want to go back to the way things were but we must come to terms with the fact that this can’t happen and that we need to change our mind-set and adopt new ways of working.

Businesses are already thinking in an innovative way about how they can survive in a different world; these new ways of thinking are true innovation and businesses should be celebrated for moving quickly and making positive changes.

Alan: COVID is a massive disruptor and businesses in all sectors have had to find new ways of doing things. As a result, we’re seeing new collaborations and new solutions bring brought forward to the problems COVID has raised.

Innovation is about coping with change, and we need to test, challenge and drive each other to change and adapt.

 

How do you plan to support companies in the region to use innovation to help them recover from the impact COVID-19 may have had on their business?

Gillian: During recovery we often see businesses cutting expenditure in areas like R&D. It’s a real risk that R&D specialists in our region will lose their jobs and that their expertise will be lost to the North East so we’re talking to partners about launching a ‘lifeboat scheme’ to support businesses to maintain their R&D and to keep hold of this group of people who are vital to innovation and to the success of our region in the future.

We are also thinking about those people who have had to retrain or look for new jobs. This is a very stressful time for many people and we’re working with the NHS to look at wellbeing and supporting people’s mental health.

Alan: As part of our COVID response programme, we’re also launching a series of open innovation challenges which will help people to quickly bring forward new products and services to market.

The challenge programme will mobilise the innovation community to help find solutions for businesses, for education and for individuals, making things better for the region as we recover and begin to get people back to work.

And more broadly, we have a COVID-19 support toolkit which is available on the North East Growth Hub, and we have our North East Growth Hub Connectors who can help business owners to access the best sources of support and funding for them.

What lessons can business take from this crisis?

Alan: Be flexible. Find communities and use networks to work together. The support and the opportunities are out there to help your business to pivot and recover, so reach out and please don’t struggle alone.

Gillian: COVID-19 is a dreadful thing but I am hopeful that some positives will come out of it. Businesses in our region – whether that’s factories in Team Valley, Cramlington and Washington, or office-based businesses in our city centres – are turning into innovators and we should celebrate this.

New ways of working will lead to new jobs which may be different from those that we’ve seen in the past. For example, we have a hugely impressive VR and gaming sector, (including Europe’s first dedicated centre for emerging technology in the form of PROTO) which will play a part in developing new ways of delivering remote products and services to people.

The core of our region and our businesses are our people. It’s important that as a region we don’t leave anyone behind as we move towards recovery, and we will hold the government to account on this nationally as well.

Find out more about the role innovation plays in building the North East economy here.

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Supporting innovative North East firms to help lead the region’s economic recovery

The North East LEP is hosting a special event to help the North East’s innovation and technology sector understand and ask questions about the newly announced Future Fund.

Innovation, digital and technology-led businesses will power the engine that drives growth in the UK economy, and help lead the country’s, and our region’s, financial recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The presence and potential of technology startups is an indicator of a healthy, ambitious and resilient economy. These innovative, high potential firms feed cycles – they are a route to retaining and attracting talent in a place; they create the scale-ups of tomorrow; they can establish and support ecosystems for entrepreneurs to invest back into, which in turn attracts more entrepreneurs to a region. They build the technological innovations that will create jobs; develop supply chains; become our next exports.

This is why the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury has announced a financial support package – Future Fund – to protect UK businesses driving innovation and development from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Future Fund

Launching today (Wednesday 20 May), Future Fund will give high-growth companies across the UK the investment they need to continue during this crisis. Providing loans between £125,000 and £5m from the government, private investors are required to at least match the government commitment. Future Fund is delivered through the British Business Bank.

Supporting North East businesses to access funding

To help our region’s dynamic businesses bid for funding, the North East LEP is hosting a webinar to explore the specifics of the Future Fund, including eligibility criteria and the application process. This is an opportunity to hear directly from regional investors and operators, including Northstar Ventures and SeedLegals. Tech founder and entrepreneur, Paul Smith, will chair the event.

The webinar will take place at 2pm on Thursday 28 May. For further information and to register your place, please visit the eventbrite page.

We welcome registrations from technology start-ups, investors, founders and innovation-led firms across all sectors.

Looking to the future of the sector

As well as discussing the immediate funding opportunity to support businesses through the coronavirus pandemic, we will also be using this event to take a longer-term view of the digital/tech/innovation sector in the North East and explore barriers to its growth.

The North East digital strategy recognises the huge importance of our tech community, which is driven, passionate and entrepreneurial. We want to support more of this by enabling greater cross-sectoral collaboration and raising the profile of our tech sector with investors and collaborators – from across the region and beyond.

We want to strengthen the relationship between creativity and innovation to maximise the translation of ideas into new products, solutions and businesses. And we want to support the wider ecosystem so that we see more innovative start-ups launching, flourishing and staying in the North East.

Join us on 28 May at 2pm to learn more about government’s support for innovative businesses and discuss how we, as a sector, can build the right environment for high growth businesses to thrive in the North East.

By Laura Partridge, Digital Programme Lead at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

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The North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group: Solving challenges together

A North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group has launched to provide business resilience and get the region ready for recovery throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.

It has a five point plan in place. Alan Welby, Innovation Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), is leading the response in terms of mobilising partners to help problem solve.

Right now the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group is working hard to marshal resources and bring our collective organisations together to support businesses and partners in the heat of a really challenging time for the nation and economy.

There are three ways in which we aim to particularly add value:

  • By helping organisations address their immediate challenges
  • By supporting frontline delivery and mobilising the incredible power of businesses to aid with that
  • By looking into the future and preparing for an economy that will be substantially different when we get back to a kind of normal

Getting the right information out to businesses is absolutely critical so they know what measures they can access and are able to navigate through a very turbulent time. We’re signposting to support on different business models, distance working and a variety of issues that COVID-19 is throwing up.

Particularly important is that we help companies do the right thing and look after staff, customers and suppliers in a really challenging environment.

Working together at scale

It’s an extremely stressful time for many business owners out there so we are trying to listen closely to people’s worries and fears and respond accordingly. Cascading national information down on a regional and local level is an important role in this and gives reassurance that everyone is working together at scale for the common good.

A lot of the activity I’ve been leading on has related to working with businesses to provide rapid solutions to some of the specific challenges faced by Government due to COVID-19. These include the provision of ventilators and PPE equipment as well as many other examples. We are trying to match make both nationally and regionally as equally the North East has issues specific to this geographical patch.

Part of this work involves mobilising various communities, such as those in digital and logistics, to build tools to help people communicate better and move equipment around more efficiently.

 

Published on the North East Growth Hub

Those wanting to know more and get involved can access the latest opportunities by visiting the Call Directory on the North East Growth Hub. There are over twenty published at the minute and there will no doubt be more to come. If you can help, please do as there are some big strategic issues that need to be addressed as early as possible.

Finally, as part of our ongoing dialogue with Government we continue to gather data to inform its work and interventions, and ours, which is why we continue to ask all businesses owners to complete this survey. Finding out what businesses need right now and sharing that intelligence is very important as you’d expect, so we welcome people engaging with us and encouraging others to do so too.

To stay up to date with progress, follow @northeastlep on Twitter or visit the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group page. Lots of helpful support can also be found on the North East Growth Hub.

 

ENDS

 

 

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North East SMEs invited to put forward solutions to global energy challenges

Businesses in the North East are being invited to put forward their solutions to global energy challenges, with funding and support on offer to help selected businesses take their ideas to the next stage of development.

The Energy Innovation Challenge is open for applications until 1 May 2020 and is supported by leading energy sector organisations from across the region.

David Lynch, Energy Innovation Partnership Manager at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s (North East LEP), explained: “Through the Energy Innovation Challenge we hope to support small and medium sized businesses in our region to take the lead in developing new ways of tackling some of the issues that are being faced around the world, such as the challenge of providing energy to homes and businesses while also reducing carbon emissions.”

The Energy Innovation Challenge is being backed by the North East Energy Catalyst – a new partnership which brings together organisations in the North East energy innovation, demonstration and delivery sectors.

A series of three challenges will run over the next year and a cohort of up to 10 successful businesses per challenge will be identified by an expert panel. The successful cohort will receive a programme of support to help them develop their solution and bring it to market.

Businesses will also have an opportunity to secure funding towards the development and commercialisation of their business, with Challenge partner Northstar Ventures offering £20k of investment, subject to eligibility, to 10 businesses. Participant SMEs with well-developed business cases will also be invited to submit matched grant applications for Local Growth Funding (LGF) of up to a further £20k.

David Lynch added: “This is an exciting opportunity for the region which demonstrates the added value of bringing partners together through the North East Energy Catalyst. The North East is built upon a legacy of innovation in power, from steam to electricity and now sustainable energy – we are a force to be reckoned with and now is the time to propel the North East onto the global energy stage.”

Businesses can find out how to enter the Energy Innovation Challenge at www.northeastlep.co.uk/the-plan/energy/north-east-energy-catalyst, or can email [email protected] to find out more.

ENDS

Notes to editors

North East Energy Catalyst
A ground-breaking partnership to unite the North East’s leading energy innovation, demonstration and delivery capabilities. Facilitated by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), North East Energy Catalyst partners are: Newcastle University; Durham University; Northumbria University; Zero Carbon Futures (a subsidiary of Gateshead College); Northern Powergrid; Northern Gas Networks; The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult; The British Engines Group; Innovation SuperNetwork; Northumbrian Water; The North of Tyne Combined Authority; The North East Combined Authority.

About the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is a public, private, and education sector partnership that covers Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland local authority areas.

About the European Regional Development Fund
North East Energy Catalyst is part funded via the Innovation SuperNetwork by the European Regional Development which includes the Catalysing Innovation in North East Clusters project, which is receiving up to £1.24m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.