CASE STUDIES
Leading BEIS’s £72m Energy Entrepreneurs Fund since 2012

Client: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

THE CHALLENGE

BEIS needed to select a partner to manage and deliver its Energy Entrepreneurs Fund programme. It wanted a consortium of programme delivery and technical experts to help promote the programme, review grant applications, manage grant recipient relationships and incubate companies.

It needed a provider to develop incubation planning tools to prioritise incubation support. BEIS also wanted to ensure value-for-money by developing and evaluating key performance indicators (KPIs).

THE OUTCOME

CLT has successfully managed the programme since 2012. Over 1,100 grant applications have been reviewed and the programme has invested £72m of grants into 134 companies and 155 projects over 7 years. CLT has prioritised 550 incubation support tasks and delivered thousands of days of hands-on support.

The 75 surveyed companies supported through EEF Rounds 1 – 5, representing £51.3m of grants, and have raised over £219m of private money, showing catalytic returns on grant investment. They have created at least 558 jobs, filed 236 patents, launched 61 products, forged 76 industry partnerships, and secured 81 customer trials.

CLT manages BEIS’s flagship grant programme for energy sector SMEs. We deliver incubation services to SMEs and manage ongoing programme development, delivery and evaluation for BEIS.

The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF) is an energy technology grant competition coupled with commercialisation support. Under CLT’s management, this programme has reviewed over 1,100 grant applications and is investing £72m of grants into 134 companies and 155 projects over 7 years. CLT has prioritised 550 incubation support tasks and delivered thousands of days of hands-on support.

CLT coordinates planning and delivery of the complete programme. At inception, we worked with BEIS to establish all processes, governance arrangements, evaluation metrics and KPIs and refresh these periodically. CLT regularly reports on all aspects of the programme, including applicant profiles, grant disbursal and monitoring, achievement of commercial milestones, risks and mitigating actions.

To ensure broad participation, CLT promotes the EEF through multiple communications channels. We do online marketing, use proprietary mailing lists to reach our extensive UK SME network, and speak at industry events. Active promotion has resulted in an increase in applications every year since inception. In Round 7, there were nearly 200 Expressions of Interest (EOI) and 107 applications, reflecting a strong conversation rate. With 23 grant offers made in 2019, the programme remains highly competitive and provides funding to only the highest-quality applicants.

CLT manages the grant application process. We use an online workspace to disseminate project information to EOI registrants and to receive, organise, share and track applications, queries and decisions. The online platform is accessible to BEIS, ensuring full transparency. CLT is responsible for communications with EOI registrants and responds to queries within 24 hours.

CLT coordinates the grant assessment process. We screen applications for eligibility and completeness and explain to non-compliant applicants the reasons for their ineligibility, inviting them to apply again in a later round. We send applications for review by technical and commercial experts within BEIS, internally, and through delivery partners.

CLT developed a detailed methodology and moderation process to select winning projects. Our process compiles reviewers scores and comments, controls for reviewer bias, and establishes the application’s technical and commercial merit in relation to the size of the grant request and the application’s Technology Readiness Level. Using bespoke data visualisation tools and geographic plots, CLT facilitates two panel discussions with commercial, technical and BEIS representatives to select grant recipients. As a final check, site visits through an incubation planning session confirm assertions in the application and serve as an anti-fraud measure.

Using a shared online workspace, CLT manages project-specific tasks and stores and shares project data with BEIS. Regular communication between CLT’s and its delivery partners’ project managers and grant recipients ensures that timelines are being followed, milestones achieved, and grants disbursed appropriately. Project managers track when commercial and technical milestones are achieved. CLT collates that information to feedback to BEIS the health of each project and the programme at large. Metrics include, e.g. private money raised, jobs created, patents filed, etc.

CLT also applies robust processes and procedures. These includes contract management, data management and security, State Aid compliance, and financial administration. CLT carries out project management activities, including the resourcing, delivery and completion of over 550 tailored incubation support tasks.

When projects are complete, CLT evaluates the effectiveness of the programme. We survey grant recipients for up to three years following project completion to evaluate KPIs and ensure the programme delivers value for money. The 75 surveyed companies supported through EEF Rounds 1 – 5, representing £51.3m of grants, have raised over £219m of private money, showing catalytic returns on grant investment. They have created over 550 jobs, filed 236 patents, launched 61 products, forged 76 industry partnerships, and secured 81 customer trials.