Commencing in October, the ‘Central Bedfordshire Productivity Programme’ programme is aimed at supporting businesses to think strategically about productivity as a route to long-term growth. Benefits of this programme include:

• Upskilled staff
• New product and process ideas
• Routes to new funding and inward investment
• Business growth and waste decline

Initially, 200 business participants from across Central Bedfordshire will be recruited and upskilled via the ‘Lean Six Sigma’ methodology – a proven a team-focused managerial approach aimed at improving productivity, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing operational costs. The businesses most likely to benefit from the CBC programme will progress through the University’s high-level bespoke workshops, focusing on productivity themes. Businesses will then signposted to the most relevant contributed grant schemes, with additional tailored productivity plans provided.

The University of Bedfordshire is proud to partner with CBC to support those businesses at the junction of innovation, research and productivity.  Working together across the local area, boosting skills and productivity through knowledge exchange and skills provision, the programme will attract new investment, deliver quicker growth and create more jobs.

Dr Nicholas Lancaster, Director of the Research & Innovation Service (RIS) at the University of Bedfordshire, said: “In the new post-pandemic economy, this relationship is going to be key to growth for our local businesses. Since March 2020, many businesses have turned for support to their local council for the first time and been surprised by the help they received.  Now we want to move beyond the sticking-plaster of short-term aid and into the forward-looking growth creation opportunities. 

“Whether it underpins new environmental sustainability ventures, reveals new export opportunities or just delivers improvements in the bottom line that can be reinvested in the business, CBC’s Central Bedfordshire Productivity Programme combines skills, vision and technical expertise for real impact.”

Councillor Kevin Collins, CBC’s Executive Member for Planning and Regeneration, added: “Our long-term strategy identifies interventions to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth for Central Bedfordshire and how we can make the most of our current and future strengths and opportunities. Therefore, we are enthusiastic to see our local businesses have access to this new business initiative.  The Central Bedfordshire Productivity Programme is aimed at scale up businesses who are the companies likely to create high-value jobs in the future and thus boosting the local economy.”

Councillor David Shelvey, CBC’s Executive Member for Corporate Resources, said: “The Central Bedfordshire Economic Strategy, which was developed with local stakeholders, including the business community, represents an important opportunity to set out what economic growth should look like, and how it can best be delivered.

“Consequently, we have embarked on investing some of the Government’s Additional Restriction Grant towards a wider business support package to deliver specialist programmes such as this one to be delivered by the University of Bedfordshire, to achieve relevant, business responsive support.”

The RIS team provides a key service for Bedfordshire’s local economic and business communities, as well as initiating impactful research, collaborations and non-profit funding opportunities between organisations and academics.

More details about the upskilling programme can be found via the University’s ‘Central Bedfordshire Productivity Programme’ webpage and for more detailed information or to enquire, email: centralbeds.productivity@beds.ac.uk