Funding programme set to boost ‘smart’ manufacturing across the Humber

THE REGION’S manufacturers are set to benefit from a share of a £1.5m fund to support digital improvements in industry throughout the Humber.

The funding, part of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Made Smarter Adoption programme, will support businesses across the North of England and the West Midlands to adopt more digital technology.

The Government hopes that by supporting adoption of industrial digital technology, such as robotics and automation, the programme can help level up regions by enabling manufacturers to increase their productivity, create high-skilled, well-paid jobs and reduce their emissions.

The Made Smarter Adoption programme includes free impartial, expert advice, funded digital internships, access to specialised leadership and management training, as well as match funding for digital transformation projects

In the Humber, this support will be made available through the Humber LEP’s Business Growth Hub, working alongside neighbouring LEPs and their Growth Hubs in Yorkshire and the Humber to implement a programme of support, to ensure reach into a wide range of manufacturing SMEs businesses as well as coordination with existing local priorities and support offers.

The Made Smarter programme will sit alongside the current suite of support already provided by the Growth Hub, including its #GrowMySME Programme, the ScaleUp Programme, and the Digital Catalyst Programme.

The plans to implement the programme are still to be finalised.

Stephen Parnaby OBE, chairman of the Humber LEP, said: “It is imperative that the Humber’s many manufacturing businesses use all the support available to them to adopt industrial digitalisation, as part of the Government’s drive to make the UK a world leader in the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ by 2030.”