18 April 2013

Midlands Good News

A spotlight on what's inspiring, what's positive and what's working in your region this month.

• There have been some good R&D tax credits successes with one Company achieving over £100k return.  Some companies have also become directly involved with CPI (Centre for Print Innovation) regarding Printed Electronics
• We have had 2 very good MP visits with some very commercial minded MP's - Nicky Morgan with Automedia in Loughborough and Mark Pawsey with Carton Edge in Coventry
• We are experiencing some good examples of company diversification in light of recent challenges. Companies are taking BPIF advice in having a multi media/platform approach to their businesses
• There are some good regional examples of funding bid successes - 3 companies have been highlighted with one bid amounting to around £300k. Benchmarking is currently being done with these companies
• Pay planning has commenced with the regional advisors already being called in to advise on a local level - a reasonable number of Midland members are suggesting they will be paying some form of award this year - although perhaps not in a traditional format. Those who've paid already average at 1.95%. This is a small sample currently but national survey's suggest this will pan out to 2% over the year so the region is representative.