Implication Brexit delay on funding landscape

With ‘Brexit Day’ now delayed until the end of January 2020, we look again at the potential implications for the funding landscape for UK business and R&D. The situation is not quite as frightening as many fear.

Summary of the need-to-know Brexit information as it stands

The UK government has committed to guarantee funding for all successful competitive UK bids to Horizon 2020 that are submitted before we leave the EU. If there’s a no-deal Brexit.
The guarantee also covers all successful competitive UK bids to Horizon 2020 calls open to third-country participation submitted between Brexit and the end of 2020. Both the guarantee and extension commit funding to UK Horizon 2020 participants for the lifetime of projects.
Current UK recipients of Horizon 2020 funding need to provide initial information about their projects on the UKRI portal. If the guarantee is required, UKRI will contact UK beneficiaries directly through the portal with information on the next steps they need to take to access funding.
If you have submitted a bid to the European Research Council (ERC), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) or European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator (formerly known as SMEi) you should wait for the Commission’s response. If there’s a no-deal Brexit and your proposal is evaluated as successful by the Commission, your project will be covered by the government’s funding guarantee. As soon as you receive notification of success from the Commission you should contact UKRI directly.

Enough national grant funding

Regardless of the Brexit situation, UK businesses are still in the fortunate position to take advantage of one of the world’s most generous and diverse national grant funding landscapes. There is over £200 million in grant funding available through competitions running on the Government’s Innovation Funding Service. With these grants you can seek to fund R&D projects in areas including food production, construction, automotive, quantum technologies, to name a few.

Thankfully, if your business does not align with any of the thematic competitions, there are two opportunities to apply to Innovate UK’s flagship cross-sectoral competition. ‘Smart Grants’ has £25 million of grant funding available in each round for UK businesses that are seeing to deliver ambitious or disruptive R&D innovations that can make a significant impact on the UK economy. The deadlines for these rounds are 16^th October 2019 and 8^th January 2020.

Read more detailed information and the latest updates regarding Horizon 2020 funding after Brexit. Here you also sign up for email alerts to get the latest information.

Get in touch for more information

To talk through any of the above in more detail get in touch with the PNO UK team on +44 (0)161 488 34 88. Especially for more intelligence surrounding National and European R&D grant funding schemes. One of our expert Innovation Consultants will be happy to discuss competition eligibility, project scoping, consortia building, and all other things grant related!