Newcastle University

Simon Down (Deputy Director of KITE), Paul Richter (Lecturer and KITE researcher), and Dr Jane Pollard (of CURDS and the School of Geography, Sociology and Politics) have been successful in securing £240,000 to conduct research looking at how small firms receive, understand and respond to regulation  in different sectoral and geographic contexts. Simon Down, the principal investigator, explains that ‘whilst we know that all entrepreneurs complain about the excessive burden of red tape, very little is known about how they really deal with it in everyday life. To ensure that government gets the extent and forms of regulation right, without unduly harming the development of small businesses, better knowledge is required. It’s all well and good simply saying reduce the regulatory burden, but as we have seen in recent years, too light a regulatory touch isn’t necessarily in everyone's best interest’. The 28 month project will compare firms in the North East and Cambridgeshire in the bio-processing, film and media and security sectors and intensively track a small number of firms to get a close-up picture.   

Andy Lydiatt, a Professor of Practice at NUBS, and a well respected figure in the bio-processing sector, said of the research: ‘this is an exciting opportunity to find out how cutting edge firms in the bio-processing sector - those that will provide the jobs of the future - really deal with the regulatory environment. I’m sure that the research will have a profound impact on policy decisions of the future’.

The project also involves co-investigator Professor Monder Ram (awarded an OBE for his services to black and ethnic minority businesses), of Leicester De Montfort University, who is an international expert in small business studies. The project will be guided by a Steering Group which includes Professor Robin Jarvis (Head of  Small  Business  Affairs at  the  Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), Andy Harrison  (Assistant Director of Enterprise and Environment Outreach Team in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), Keith Herrmann  (Deputy CEO, The Council for Industry and Higher Education) and other regionally-based enterprise leaders.

If you want to be involved or get more information about the project please contact Simon on 44 (0)191 243 0799 or by email simon.down@ncl.ac.uk