BUSINESS PARTNERING OPPORTUNITIES
To help companies find partners, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is able to offer access to thousands of partnering opportunities from across Europe. A small selection of the current opportunities available is shown below. If you want to find out more about any of these profiles or would like to submit your own partner profile, email
info@enterpriseeuropesw.org.uk or call 01275 370 997. Other profiles can be searched for on
www.enterpriseeuropesw.org.uk
• A French SME is looking for a partner capable of etching titanium using an electrochemical process. Technical cooperation will be considered for joint further development. Ref: 11 FR 33j7 3L6F
• A Brussels-based multinational active in the consumer goods sector is looking for a practical solution that allows maintenance-free lubrication of electric shavers. The company is open to various types of collaboration. Ref: 11 BE 0213 3LAV
• A Brussels-based multinational active in the consumer goods sector and willing to meet its sustainability goals is looking for proposals and/or partners with developed capabilities and/or leading-edge technologies in Asia for the supply of large quantities of sustainably-sourced lignocellulosic biomass. Different types of collaboration are being sought. Ref: 11 BE 0213 3LB1
• A Brussels-based multinational active in the consumer goods sector and willing to meet its sustainability goals is looking for proposals and/or partners with developed capabilities and/or leading-edge technologies in Asia for the conversion of biomass- derived fermentable sugars such as glucose and xyloses. Different kinds of collaboration are being sought. Ref: 11 BE 0213 3LB2
• A Brussels-based multinational active in consumer goods is looking for technologies that combine surface cleaning with the ability to shine and enhance the appearance of a surface. Targeted surfaces include floors (eg. wood, stone), wood, furniture and metal surfaces. Different kinds of collaboration are possible, depending on the development phase of the technology – from concept or research stage to available for near-term commercialisation. Ref: 11 BE 0213 3LBZ
• A Brussels-based multinational is seeking partners to help improve its manufacturing process and granulated powder transport system. Potential partners must evaluate the current process and propose alternatives that improve efficiency, throughput and cleanliness. Different kinds of collaboration are possible. Ref: 11 BE 0213 3LC0
8 Business West Update JULY/AUGUST 2011
Bank secures funding for small business
Santander has enhanced its support to SMEs after securing a third tranche of funding from the European Investment Bank, enabling it to provide discounted loan rates to qualifying businesses.
The £150 million fund will help support firms looking to invest in their businesses, in turn helping to generate new jobs and drive local economic growth. The new EIB funding complements Santander’s commitment to UK companies and follows its pledge to increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises by 25 per cent in 2011. This equates to an increase in overall lending of £6.7 billion, with £4 billion set aside for SMEs, and follows a 26 per cent rise last year. Steve Pateman, head of Santander corporate and commercial banking, said: “Ensuring businesses are able to access affordable investment
Simon Brooks, EIB vice president responsible for the United Kingdom, said: “The European Investment Bank is pleased to increase funding for British SMEs through Santander. This is part of our wider engagement to assist SMEs across the UK and elsewhere in Europe to continue to access investment finance
capital is crucial for the UK’s economic recovery. Thanks to our partnership with the EIB, we will be able to assist more small and medium-sized customers with their expansion plans at discounted rates, helping to create local jobs and fuel this recovery.”
during economically challenging times.”
The new funding is available immediately to companies with fewer than 250 employees looking for loans of up to £12.5 million for a minimum of two years. Some sector restrictions apply.
Bristol to benefit from super-fast broadband BT has announced that 25,000 more homes and businesses in Bristol and nearby towns will have access to super-fast fibre broadband by the end of next year at the latest.
Bitton, Filton, Nailsea and Winterbourne are the latest communities to benefit from BT’s £2.5 billion roll-out plans for super-fast broadband. They are among 14 communities in the South West and 156 across the UK that have been included in the BT announcement.
More than half a million homes and businesses in the South West now either have access to the sophisticated technology or will do so by the end of 2012. Super-fast broadband, using ‘fibre to street cabinet’ technology (FTTC), offers much faster
download speeds of up to 40Mbps, potentially rising to 60Mbps, and upstream speeds of 10Mbps, which could rise to 15Mbps in the future. BT’s local network business Openreach expects to make super-fast fibre broadband available to two-thirds of the UK by the end of 2015 in the biggest single investment in super-fast broadband ever undertaken in this country. Jon Reynolds, BT’s South West regional director, said: “The roll-out of super-fast broadband across the South West is continuing to gather momentum. About 80,000 homes and businesses in the region now have access to the benefits of this exciting technology and we expect to pass the half a million mark next year. “At a time of difficult economic conditions
super-fast broadband is being rolled-out in the UK at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world. BT is making one of the largest private sector investments in the South West in recent times and this is boosting the prosperity of the region as well as transforming the internet for businesses and households.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32