The Surrey Womenโs Entrepreneurship Network (SWEN) is a burgeoning network which fosters innovation and investment-readiness through mentoring programmes, expert business support and links with the local ecosystem of funders, policy makers, investors and other stakeholders.
This includes access to information and support for women entrepreneurs, creating positive impact locally and beyond.
In addition to bringing people together, its focus is on:
Championing women
Spotlighting and promoting the contribution of women in the innovation ecosystem, raising the profile of entrepreneurs and companies across all sectors who are underrepresented
Investor-readiness
Supporting women to access funding for their businesses and source and prepare for investment raises and grant applications
Growth opportunities
Creating opportunities for women to grow their networks, build interest in their ideas and receive expert business advice
The network launched in December 2023 at the Surrey Research Park in Guildford.
The audience heard a keynote by Nathalie Hinds delivered beautifully by Monique Raats on โThree Powerful Wordsโ, before two inspiring panels took to the stage.
Kathy Slack OBE closed the event with great energy and a clear message to the audience to โfeel that buzz in your bellyโ and keep the momentum going forward.
SWEN Co-founder Kat Mack says, โIt was wonderful to see so many people in the room committed to the support and pursuit of womenโs entrepreneurship. The community is vibrant and poised! I canโt wait to see the network flourish!โ
LEP functions transferred to Surrey County Council
Published 26 March 2024
Business news
Businesses will be at the heart of Surreyโs economic growth as they are set to benefit from a single strategic vision and leadership for the Surrey economy as part of the transfer of formal powers to Surrey County Council.
From April, the Council will take up the key functions currently held by the countyโs two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Enterprise M3 and Coast to Capital.
The change will see the council lead on an enhanced oversight and delivery role in driving sustainable economic growth across the county. It will absorb formal responsibilities to deliver business support through the new Surrey-wide Growth Hub and deliver government-funded programmes focused on skills.
Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth at Surrey County Council said: “Surrey has a great economic story to tell. We’re the UK’s leading regional economy, with more than 100,000 businesses which generate more than ยฃ50 billion a year to the UK economy.
“We know there is huge potential to grow this further – through targeted support to key sectors, and through working with employers, training providers and local residents to create a high-quality skilled workforce for the future.
“I very much welcome the transfer of these powers into Surrey County Council.
“It will mean for the first time we will have one organisation who, together with a strong independent business voice, will provide a clear, coherent and comprehensive approach to developing a strong sustainable economy. This is positive for business and for residents.
“I want to thank the government for hearing our case and also to our partners in the LEPs for working with us to ensure there is a seamless transfer of service at the start of April.”
Surrey has historically been divided across two LEP boundaries โ Enterprise M3 operating in the west of the county and Coast to Capital in the east โ which has presented challenges in terms of strategic coherence and created confusion for local businesses.
In March 2023, the Chancellor of the Exchequerโs Budget statement announced the intention to integrate of LEP functions into upper tier local authorities.
Aware of the positive impacts that could have for Surrey, the County Council took steps to engage early with partners to ensure it was ready to absorb and deliver these functions from the point of transfer.
Setting a single economic vision for the county, ensuring Surrey-wide solutions are developed to support local economic growth.
The development of a new Surrey business brand and website to make it easier for businesses to know where to access the right information, advice and guidance.
The creation of a Surrey Growth Hub service to provide universal signposting support for business, as well as targeted interventions to help eligible local businesses in their journey to becoming high-growth.
The creation of a Surrey Careers Hub (launched in September 2023), which delivers a range of activities focused on ensuring schools and colleges can help young people take their next best step.
Improved join-up and efficiencies with existing council services and teams.
Greater democratic accountability for decision-making related to local economic growth, that will be informed by a strong, independent, and diverse private sector voice.
Future government funding to support local growth will now be focused on the whole of Surrey, instead of it being spread across larger regional areas.
Further announcements will be made in the coming months regarding the launch of the new Surrey business brand, website, and Surrey Growth Hub.
Boost for gaming sector with ยฃ2.4 million GAIN programme
Published 26 March 2024
Business news, Innovation
Businesses working within the gaming sector in Surrey are being encouraged to get involved with a new ยฃ2.3 million programme to tackle challenges in the industry.
The Games and Innovation Nexus (GAIN) will focus on ways to promote growth and innovation in this growing sector.
Already more than 60 companies and 3,000 developers work within the gaming sector in Guildford, earning the town the title of โthe Hollywood of Gamingโ.
Among the priorities for GAIN will be developing infrastructure for the sector to enable greater collaboration, with the aim of ensuring Surrey continues to be a world leader in this creative sector.
The catalyst for the project is ยฃ1.5 million of funding from Research England aimed at allowing two of the UK’s biggest gaming clusters – Guildford and Leamington in Warwickshire – to drive innovation in the sector.
If youโre working in or interested in gaming, the GAIN project team are keen to hear more about your industry challenges, opportunities and ideas for research collaboration.
GAIN was officially launched at the Guildford Games Festival in February.
The project will look to:
Connect university researchers with games companies with challenges to solve
Connect the Guildford and Leamington games clusters
Invest in an innovation ecosystem, including a new Games Innovation Zone at the University of Surrey; and a town centre incubation centre at UCA Farnham that support games innovation commercialisation.
As part of the launch, Caroline Fleming, Director Surrey Innovation District, University of Surrey, chaired a panel session titled โConnecting Capabilities, Research to Revenueโ involving industry and academic representatives.
The prestigious panel comprised of Charity Joy from Criterion Games, which is part of the gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA); Steve Cuss of The GamePlan Consultancy; Andrew Bossom from the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and the University of Surreyโs Dr Stephen Mooney.
Together, the industry experts explored the relationship between universities and the games industry, delving into issues around people and skills, research, and the value of connections and networks.
Caroline Fleming, Director Surrey Innovation District, University of Surrey, said: โThe University of Surrey is particularly excited to develop our innovation collaboration with Guildfordโs vibrant and exciting games cluster.
โGAIN is designed to tackle the challenge of development of a new diversified innovation model that bridges across academic research and the IP sensitive Games industry, creating opportunity for regional economic growth and positive societal impact.
โI would like to thank the Guildford Games Committee, for inviting us to host this session, Surrey County Council for their ongoing support for the games sector in our region, and Research England, for recognising the value of our regional games cluster and committing ยฃ1.5m to funding it.โ
Why does GAIN matter?
Dr William Lovegrove, Director of Innovation Strategy at the University of Surrey, who led the consortium bid, said: โThe UK consumer games industry generates over ยฃ3 billion a year for the UK GDP and hires almost 50,000 people. It’s a UK success story.
โThis project will help connect world-class researchers in the fields of AI, psychology, music, media, literature and languages with the two largest regional games clusters in the UK to collaborate, solve industry challenges and drive growth. It’s an exciting initiative which will redefine how universities collaborate with the UK games industry.โ
Dr Amer Alwarea, Acting Director of Research and Innovation at the University for the Creative Arts, said: โThis collaboration will stimulate our research communities, invigorate innovation in CreaTech, and champion sustainable expansion within the gaming sector. The fusion of academia and the gaming industry sets this partnership apart and establishes a new standard for the creative sector.โ
Cllr Matt Furniss, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: โThe games industry is one of Surrey’s real success stories, showcasing our county and its talented workforce on a global stage.
โThis funding has the potential to take this growing, innovative sector to new heights, creating high-quality jobs and generating inward investment into our communities – both of which would be good news for our residents.โ
