The last 18 months have been exciting for us, filled with many new and unique projects. We've had the pleasure of working with the LCC, the GLLEP, DEFRA, as well as a number of larger companies that we couldn't work with previously. We look forward to seeing what the future holds, and this new funding opportunity has given us space to grow our service offer in a whole new way.

Where does the funding come from?

LORIC 2.0 part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is part of Bishop Grosseteste University. The LORIC project is receiving up to £399,030 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union, ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regeneration.

For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding

So, what does that mean for LORIC moving forward?

Our waiting list subscribers have already heard this one, but under the terms of our new agreement, we can work with SMEs and non-SMEs depending on whether eligibility requirements are met. You can check out whether your company is eligible here or fill out an expression of interest using this form. A member of our team will be in touch as soon as possible to let you know the outcome of your application and agree next steps.

If you are not eligible, we continue to offer a variety of services at a very competitive rate. Our retainer model has open spaces for it, as well, which allows you to access our services at an even more affordable rate than before.

We are looking forward to bringing more people on our team soon, so keep your eyes peeled for those announcements, too!

While we're still in lock down, our service offer will be limited to one-to-one consultancy, online training events, and referrals. We also look forward to working more closely with our academic colleagues and the careers service at Bishop Grosseteste University to foster more long-term partnerships between our business community and our university. We will be in touch when the building reopens to let you know about the recommencing of our digitization activities and face-to-face service delivery. We know that a lot of you have been missing our building (so are we!) but we want to reassure you that everyone's health and safety comes first, and we want to make sure we can offer you the safest possible visit when we invite you back.

Finally, we wanted to take a moment to thank all of you, for staying with us for so long, for engaging with our posts and our events, and promoting our initiatives all this time. It's been a challenging and exciting few years, and we can't wait to see what the future has in store.

See you all soon (and hopefully in person)!


19th April 2021