Greater Cambridge/Greater Peterborough LEP priority areas

The priority areas for the Greater Cambridge/Greater Peterborough LEP are as follows. Below each priority area is a list of individuals within the voluntary and community sector who are interested in working in partnership to deliver collaborative projects within the priority area.

If you would like to get in contact with one of these individuals to discuss working in collaboration with them or if you would like to be added to one of the lists email information@one-em.org.uk.

Some organisations on the lists below are looking for partners to collaborate in delivering specific projects. For further information on these projects click on the organisation’s name.

For further information on LEPs and to view their strategies visit www.oneeastmidlands.org.uk/leps.

1. Research and innovation

Building collaborative research between enterprises, research institutions and public institutions.

  • Graduate start-up schemes and support for other higher education institution spin-outs delivering innovation, including social enterprises.
  • Provide additional support, advice and funding to businesses and entrepreneurs to support the creation and development of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and micro businesses including the take up of new/improved business processes and technology.

Supporting businesses including social enterprises to commercialise research and development.

  • Business-led and public procurement programmes designed to drive innovation, and increase business demand for, and absorption of research and development.
  • Stimulate the demand for new, or improved, services, processes and products.

Physical infrastructure.

  • Incubation space and other equipment (e.g. demonstration and user-test facility space and over access to equipment and technical facilities) which lead directly to the delivery of other proposed activities in this thematic area.
   

2. ICT

Extend the roll-out and take up of high-speed communications networks.

  • Extend the roll-out of high-speed communications networks where the market is failing particularly where this is proving a barrier to SME growth.

Support SMEs and social enterprises in their development of ICT products.

  • Support SMEs and social enterprises in their development of ICT products and services and improve their ability to exploit e-commerce opportunities.
  • Extend the roll-out and take up of high-speed communications networks.
  • Support SMEs and social enterprises in their development of ICT products in EAFRD eligible areas.
  • Funding for superfast broadband in hard-to-reach locations.
   

3. SME Competitiveness

Build the growth capability of SMEs.

  • Build capability in SMEs to provide project/placement/internship opportunities and enhance the contribution of higher level skills to SME growth.
  • Increase the provision of finance and investment readiness support so that business can access finance at each stage of business development.
  • Support for collaboration projects/placements/internships or other activities with SMEs that enable students and graduates to gain industry relevant experience and skills.

Foster a more entrepreneurial culture by reducing barriers to entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurs.

  • Promote entrepreneurship and self-employment in particular amongst groups which may not see enterprise as for them.
  • Provide support to start a business.
  • Develop better links between business and educators, further education providers and other education partners to equip students with the skills to start.

Build the growth of SMEs and foster a more entrepreneurial culture by reducing barriers to entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurs in EAFRD eligible areas.

  • Provide additional support, advice and funding to SMEs  and micro businesses and entrepreneurs, including the uptake of new/improved business processes and technology.
   

4. Low carbon

Build the market in low carbon environmental technologies, good and services; non domestic low carbon technologies and energy efficiency; whole place low carbon solutions; and innovation and adoption of low carbon technologies.

  • Invest future energy spend into the local economy to benefit local businesses and communities rather than the global economy.
  • Adoption of low carbon technologies to build the low carbon market and supply chain.
  • Support sectorial growth in clean technology, a priority sector for the Greater Cambridge/Greater Peterborough LEP, through placing investment and procuring services.
  • Support demand for the commercialisation of new low carbon technologies.
   

8. Promoting employment and supporting labour mobility

Access to employment for job-seekers and inactive people, including local employment initiatives and support for labour mobility.

Sustainable integration of young people, in particular those not in employment, education or training into the labour market.

  • Provide additional or more intensive support to help people to move towards work, enter work including self-employment, and to progress in work.
  • Remove skills barriers to continued growth.
  • Additional and innovative approaches to pre-employment training.
  • Vocational STEM courses targeted at key client groups.
  • Vocational language support in target areas.
  • Projects that respond flexibly to local business demand and connect client groups with the right skills and experience to meet local labour demands.
  • Additional literacy and numeracy provision for young people.
  • Innovative programmes for marginalised groups to help bring them to, and support them in, vocational training, such as new training programmes and support for young lone parents, carers, ex-offenders and people with disabilities or health barriers.
  • Broker opportunities for those in target client groups and supporting local businesses to work with traineeships, apprenticeships, work experience and graduate placements.
   

9. Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty

Active inclusion in particular with a view to increasingly employability.

Grow the social investment market to support social enterprises and the social economy and develop the capacity of social entrepreneurs to address the needs of their local communities.

 

  • Tackle barriers to work in a holistic and integrated way, including through supported early action before problems become entrenched, outreach activities and access to locally provided services. This will include addressing debt and money management.
  • Social inclusion/remove skills barriers to continued growth.
  • Tackle factors causing educational attainment that create barriers to work.
  • Develop the capacity of community groups to participate in the delivery of services to those furthest from the labour market.
  • Target specific communities or ethnic minorities with high levels of poverty and social exclusion.
  • Support early interventions for carers.
  • Tackle barriers to work through addressing lack of basic English for speakers of other languages.
  • Support specific activities to improve access for people with disabilities, with a view to improve their integration into employment, education and training, thereby enhancing their social inclusion.
  • Support early interventions for young people, especially those with multiple barriers to their participation, for example care leavers, ex-offenders, lone parents and those with special needs.
   

10. Investing in education, skills and lifelong learning

Enhancing access to lifelong learning, upgrading skills and competencies of the workforce and increasing the labour market relevance of education and training systems including improving the quality of vocational education and training and the establishment and development of work-based learning schemes such as dual learning systems.

  • Activities that promote, or provide qualifications in, entrepreneurialism and innovation in the potential workforce.
  • Remove skills barriers to continued growth.
  • Support for collaborative projects/placements/internships or other activities with SMEs, including building capacity that enable students and graduates to gain industry relevant experience and skills.
  • Promotion of the user of higher level apprenticeships by developing a supportive environment for new higher level apprenticeships.
  • Brokerage projects that support the development of relationships between businesses and education and training providers.
  • Innovative approaches to training in a vocational context for young people under 18.
  • Support for intermediate, technical and high level vocational provision for career progression..
  • Supporting low skilled people in low paid work to raise their skills levels. Particularly, but not exclusively, in leadership and management.
  • Support for intermediate, technical and high level skills for specific industries and sectors identified as having growth potential in their local economies.
  • Support for businesses to plan and budget for training, building their plans into local strategies for skills.
  • Fund activities that enable a detailed micro-level understanding of our economy and public informative documentation that can be used by training funding bodies and education and training providers to empower the potential workforce.
  • Support for SMEs at the smaller end of the scale to access funding streams. Provide direct intervention to enable.