{"id":803878,"date":"2026-03-04T17:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/803878\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T17:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:39:15","slug":"liverpool-small-business-programme-gets-huge-boost-of-over-42-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/803878\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool small business programme gets huge boost of over \u00a342 million"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Centred on small and medium-sized enterprise innovation and leadership, the Novel programme has successfully created 257 new positions. <\/p>\n<p>It is focused on strengthening the leadership capabilities and connections that drive innovation within ambitious small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More than 100 senior figures from business, academia and regional leadership gathered at the Royal Liver Building on Friday for Novel as Lord Michael Heseltine returned to address many different industry professionals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Becoming a breakout success story as part of the wider Horizons programme, Novel was led by the University of Liverpool\u2019s VEC and backed by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The initiative has been supporting SME productivity, sustainable growth and competitiveness across the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Aiming to address a long-standing gap in the innovation agenda, Novel made a big stride with this event. Although technology, funding and research exist, many SMEs lack the strategic space and support to embed innovation at board level.<\/p>\n<p>Bringing together senior decision-makers from different sectors to build leadership, Novel unlocks collaboration and translates innovation into a measurable, commercial impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Businesses that have been part of the Horizons initiative have realised:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Over \u00a3800,000 of SME innovation investment supported<\/li>\n<li>257 jobs created<\/li>\n<li>82% saw productivity improvement<\/li>\n<li>Are on track to deliver \u00a342.9m in GVA across the region<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thanks to the programme, the Liverpool City Region is positioned as a leader in SME-driven innovation in the real economy.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Heseltine-1024x578.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33320\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Widely regarded as one of the architects of Liverpool\u2019s regeneration, Lord Michael Heseltine, addressed delegates and endorsed the region\u2019s continued ambition.<\/p>\n<p>Lord Michael Heseltine said:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome people see excellence in places where it does not yet exist,\u201d he said. \u201cThey create the circumstances for it to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegions cannot sit back and expect change to be delivered for them,\u201d he added. \u201cThey have to back their own ambition and be prepared to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor every pound of public money, we leveraged many more from the private sector,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is how you create sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concluding his address, the room gave a standing ovation reflecting the impact of his role in the city\u2019s transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the conference, topics were explored such as AI and digital transformation, the commercialisation of university research and the role of regional ecosystems in scaling high-growth firms. The resulting message was overall very positive, with it showcasing that the Liverpool City Region has the leadership, talent and institutional backing to continue driving innovation-led growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Borland, Novel Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at VEC, University of Liverpool, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLiverpool has always demonstrated what is possible when leadership and ambition come together. Novel exists to ensure that our SME leaders are at the forefront of innovation, not following behind it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowth businesses are the drivers of the UK economy. When we back the leaders of those businesses \u2013 equipping them with the knowledge, networks, capability and strategic confidence to innovate \u2013 we create jobs, improve productivity and strengthen the entire regional economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the support of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Horizons and Novel are helping to build a generation of SME leaders ready to shape the future of innovation in our city region.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Find out more about The Novel Innovation Leadership Programme <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.ac.uk\/collaborate\/impact-and-purpose\/knowledge-exchange-framework\/ke-case-studies\/local-growth-and-regeneration\/novel-programme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a><br \/>\nGet the latest updates on news around our city region on our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merseyside.police.uk\/police-forces\/merseyside-police\/areas\/campaigns\/campaigns\/2023\/march\/evolve\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit<a href=\"https:\/\/thenorthernguide.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenorthernguideuk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Centred on small and medium-sized enterprise innovation and leadership, the Novel programme has successfully created 257 new positions.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,229382,393,4884,232823,179,232824,232825,16,15],"class_list":["post-803878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-liverpool","tag-britain","tag-busines","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-heseltine","tag-liverpool","tag-lord-michael-heseltine","tag-regenaration","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116172132897662820","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}