POPULAR government schemes for helping small firms to develop new technologies are likely to remain heavily oversubscribed in 1996 after the science minister, Ian Taylor, refused to inject any extra money. Only one in nine of the companies which apply for funding wins money through the Department of Trade and Industry’s Smart and Spur schemes.
But despite the high failure rate, the minister last week ruled out any extra cash. “It would mean moving money from other important schemes to encourage innovation,” says Taylor. He adds that many firms which fail to win funding first time succeed on their second or third try.
Around 拢8 million a year is available for Smart awards and some 拢17 million for Spur awards. Small firms with fewer than 50 staff can apply for Smart grants of up to 拢45 000 to evaluate ideas. Spur grants of up to 拢170 000 are on offer to larger firms keen to develop ideas into prototypes.
