
Business Basics was announced in the government's Industrial Strategy to test innovative ways of encouraging small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt existing productivity-boosting technology and management practices.
This is the second round of the Business Basics Fund. We are funding 2 types of project in this round: trials and proof of concepts.
Trial projects will test different approaches to encouraging SMEs to adopt existing technologies and/or management practices that can boost firm level productivity. These projects will help to generate robust evidence on the most effective approaches, and build an understanding of the short, medium and long-term impacts of these approaches.
This competition is for trial projects where the lead applicant is a business. Other organisations such as public sector or not-for-profit can participate as collaborators but cannot lead.
To apply for funding to run a trial where the lead applicant is not a business you must apply through the non-business-led trial competition.
If you are an organisation whose idea is at an earlier stage of development, you should apply to deliver a proof of concept.
The Business Basics Fund aims to test innovative ways of encouraging SMEs to adopt existing technologies and business practices that boost productivity.
Your proposal must relate to the actions SMEs can take to become more productive by:
Your project must be a trial which will effectively demonstrate the causal link between the approaches you are testing and the desired outcomes. We expect trials to use a control (comparison group) and preferably one of the following:
If your proposal is successful you will need to complete and register a trial protocol before the trial starts.
Your project must also:
If you are successful in receiving funding you must:
Data collection and sharing
Project results will be independently evaluated and published. In applying for this competition, you agree to share all data collected as part of the trial with BEIS and any appointed contractor. This is for further research or evaluation purposes. You must act in accordance with the GDPR, and ensure the appropriate data privacy notice is given at the point data is collected.
You may want to consider approaches that:
We will not fund projects that:
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