UK Health Care

Support for Health Care Innovation in the UK

This document is a simple comprehensive reference guide to the complex world of Government and Institutional support for health care innovation in the UK. It is not an analytical document but rather a descriptive one describing the role and support available from each institution and programme. It also provides extensive links to these organisations’  websites which give further detail on how to apply for support, as well as case studies on companies they have supported. In each section, the programme’s relevance to innovators has been highlighted. The healthcare innovation support environment is dynamic, with Government prone to introducing new initiatives every eighteen months or so, whilst rarely curtailing existing schemes. Consequently, over time a wide range of institutions and programs evolve.

The document can be read in conjunction with a workshop, which was delivered in November 2022, which took a more analytical view on the issues confronting the NHS, the structural changes currently occurring in health care provision and the engagement and procurement challenges for innovators in winning adoption and diffusion in the UK’s National Health Service. The documentation from this workshop can be requested by getting in touch with our UK team here.

 

Read the report here.

UK and the Nordics

Irish exporters can find ample opportunity in both the UK and the Nordics

While our new trading relationship with our closest neighbours has caused some challenges for Irish companies, the UK undoubtedly remains a critically important market for Irish industry, and an important first export market.

 

In fact, at the recent International Markets Week event run by Enterprise Ireland in the RDS, one of Ireland’s biggest annual business events, new exporters and start-ups comprised two thirds of the Irish companies meeting with the organisation’s team of UK market advisers. Despite evident challenges, this market is still hugely attractive to Irish exporters.

 

It’s not surprising, when we consider that the UK and the Nordic markets collectively accounted for €9.6 billion of global exports from Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in 2021. That represented 35% of all exports from Enterprise Ireland-supported companies last year, and an increase of €1.38 billion on the previous year.

 

Despite the additional complexities since Brexit, it’s clear that the UK remains the dominant market for many of the companies supported by Enterprise Ireland, says Marina Donohoe, Regional Director UK, Nordics & Global Procurement, Enterprise Ireland.

 

“It remains a crucial market for companies to scale in and to use as a stepping-stone to further export markets. One key reason for that is the strong reputation of Irish companies in Britain, and the resilience and agility they’ve shown in the face of recent challenges,” she says. “One key reason for that is the strong reputation of Irish companies in Britain, and the resilience and agility they’ve shown in the face of recent challenges.”

Irish exporters thriving across sectors

As we build on the strong links that have been in place between our countries for centuries, we’re also seeing a new generation of exporters across sectors such as digital technologies, renewable energy and modular construction.

 

Likewise, in London, which remains the financial services capital of Europe, Irish companies specialising in digital finance and payment technology have an impressive reputation in this highly regulated industry.

 

“Consumer retail is another thriving sector for Irish companies exporting to the UK,” explains Marina.

 

“In the past decade, we’ve seen brands such as Therapie, Max Benjamin, Pestle & Mortar and Gym+Coffee become really well established there. And recently, the hugely popular Irish beauty brand Sculpted by Aimee has also launched in Boots stores across the UK.  It’s also worth bearing in mind that the UK is the third largest e-commerce market in the world.”

Scaling from across the UK

We’re also seeing more and more Irish exporters who appreciate the value of starting their UK operations in cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, and scaling from there. In these locations in particular, they benefit from long-standing relationships between the cities and Ireland.

 

Throughout the UK, Irish companies employ 117,000 people, making an important economic impact in their nearest market. Enterprise Ireland has expanded its team in the UK in recent years, opening a new office in Manchester in 2018 and planning to expand our footprint to Scotland in 2023.

Nordics prove accessible for Irish firms

Exports to the Nordics from Enterprise Ireland-supported companies are also growing rapidly, and have risen from €442m in 2011 to €1.24 billion in 2021.

 

“While there is a preconception in Ireland that these markets (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) are expensive and difficult to access, once companies start to do business in the region, they find it is much more accessible than they initially thought,” says Marina.

 

In fact, English is widely spoken and customers in the Nordics are willing to pay for innovation, with particular opportunities for Irish firms across high tech construction, life sciences, digital technologies and consumer retail.

 

“As these markets combined represent the 11th largest economy in the world, they’re a natural focus for consideration for any Irish business seeking to expand its internationalisation focus,” Marina adds.

Expanding services across the Nordics

Reflecting the strong demand for support and the clear market potential, Enterprise Ireland expanded the team, opened its office in Copenhagen in 2019 and established a wider network of pathfinders throughout the region. We also plan to extend our operations in the Nordics in 2023.

 

Regardless of the preconceptions, Irish firms may have about doing business in the UK and the Nordics, the statistics clearly tell the story of Irish companies scaling well in these markets.

 

For other Irish businesses keen to emulate this success, we recommend doing focused market research, understanding your value proposition and how to differentiate yourself in these crowded markets, and then committing to them by visiting often and having a presence on the ground.

Enterprise Ireland teams across the region are keen to support clients to enter and scale in these critically important near and accessible export markets

Learn more about the opportunities in these markets and get crucial market insights in our Global Ambition deep dives for the UK and the Nordics.

UK Education

UK Education Sector Procurement Report

UK Education

The sector is a complex mix of organisations with differing levels of autonomy and financial control, with local authorities playing a key role. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to explain the structures and governance to make it easier to understand for companies that wish to target products and services to this sector and how the sector procures goods and services. Education spending is the second largest element of public service spending in the UK, representing about £99 billion in 20/21, second only to health spend.

Read the report here.

UK Local Authority Update Report

 

The new report extended the research to look at the specific opportunities available to Irish companies by taking a closer look at the investment plans, budget priorities and organisational changes within authorities.

This document is based on detailed research, combined with our experience, knowledge and personal contacts. It endeavours to provide an up-to-date insight into the sector, taking account of the effects of the pandemic and budget priorities to help Irish companies identify relevant opportunities and target the
right authorities rather than taking a blanket approach.

Read the report here.

happy employee

Irish talent tech firms boost global engagement and productivity

In this era of widespread remote working, employee engagement and wellbeing matter more than ever. Isolated workers need to feel a sense of community and get support from their employers in line with their company’s values.

Companies around the world are looking to Irish talent tech companies for cutting-edge digital solutions to enable streamlined, effective work by HR departments, managers and employees. From wellbeing apps to performance management tools, Irish companies are exporting best-in-class products to businesses in dozens of countries.

Most are also focused on integrating with the existing technologies used by companies, meaning those in charge of IT budgets can maximise their legacy investments. Discover how five of the best in Irish talent tech are meeting the needs of a global client base.

 

1. Workvivo: Engaging employees with a highly social experience

Cork-based Workvivo is an enterprise social network, designed to enable organisations to engage as well as communicate with their employee communities.

“We took activities such as posting, liking and sharing content to an activity feed, which people are used to on social media apps outside the workplace, but developed them in a business context, enabling people to more easily engage with one another and with their company.” says Pete Rawlinson, Chief Marketing Officer at Workvivo.

 

Describe your business

“Disengagement was an issue for as many as 70% of businesses before the pandemic,” he adds. “One-to-one communication tools such as email or messaging facilitate communication but don’t do anything to provide that sense of community and culture.”

“People  need to feel part of something, especially when they are working remotely.” Pete Rawlinson, CMO at Workvivo

Since the pandemic spread, Workvivo has seen a significant increase in enquiries. “Companies are seeing that many remote workers can feel isolated. Our platform helps bring employees together through a highly social experience. We see customers using the platform to host activities such as quizzes and competitions that really help create that important sense of community….and fun!”

Woodies found that its Workvivo activity went up when its workers were furloughed due to Covid-19. “These were mainly employees with no work email account or company device, but they wanted to stay engaged,” says Rawlinson.

Workvivo has sought to ensure it can integrate with existing communication tools such as Slack, Zoom and Workday, and also includes built-in engagement analysis through pulse surveys, he says, adding that many customers report higher levels of employee satisfaction and engagement than before they implemented the platform. “Higher engagement typically leads to increases in talent retention and acquisition,” he said.

Established three years ago, Workvivo now has customers in 35 countries with over 150,000 users on the platform. The company is headquartered in Cork, Ireland and has recently opened an office in Sacramento, California. Having recently secured $16m (€14.2m) in Series A funding, it is now focused on expanding its US client base and accelerating its product development plans.

 

2. Frankli: automating continuous performance management

While performance review cycles can strike dread into both managers and employees, Frankli aims to make performance management easier and more intuitive with its end-to-end platform.

“Our product allows managers to have much more meaningful conversations with people and support their development,” says Noel Dykes, founder and CEO of Frankli. “This approach is transformative and agile — we don’t set out to be a once-a-year annual cycle of goal-setting and meetings.”

A software engineer by background, Dykes worked as a consultancy practice manager in New Zealand and saw first-hand that younger employees were particularly keen on continuous feedback and recognition. “People want to be truly connected to the work,” he says. “They want to understand their purpose. Why are they there? What is the company they are working for trying to achieve?”

He adds that purpose-driven organisations will thrive, especially as remote working opens up a global marketplace.

“Managers are going to become coaches, rather than engaging in direct management in the office where they can see employees and know what they are working on. From now on, they will have to trust people and give them much more autonomy.”

Within Frankli, managers can set up regular recurring one-to-one meetings with their team members, setting priorities, agreeing action items and supporting accountability on both sides. The software suggests recommended talking points, based on insights from organisational psychology. Employees can also contribute comments and suggestions.

The product also enables businesses to offer more tailored learning and development opportunities, including a two-sided mentor marketplace tool.

Frankli has customers of all sizes in Ireland, the UK, Poland and New Zealand. While its core focus is midsize companies looking to scale, it already supports workforces of as many as 70,000 employees.

 

3. Empeal: personalised employee wellbeing at scale

While many employee wellbeing platforms work on a one-to-many scale, says Sohini De, founder of data-driven start-up Empeal, her business aims to deliver 1:1 wellbeing support at scale.

“If someone is having trouble with sleep, perhaps not doing too much exercise, eating unhealthy food or generally falling into bad habits, they can go through the programme on our system,” she explains.

“They start by completing interactive questionnaires and we can also integrate data from their wearable devices. They could be given a personalised programme to improve their sleep hygiene, for example. If they continue to have problems, their case is escalated to a sleep expert.”

With users in Ireland and India, Empeal is now focused on expanding those markets and pushing into both the UAE and the UK, So far, it has seen engagement rates of 60% on average, which De says is high for a wellbeing app. “We have also seen very encouraging results in terms of people achieving their health goals,” she says.

In addition to helping employees improve their wellbeing, Empeal also provides anonymised aggregate data to employers to enable them make better decisions, improve staff retention rates and attract more talent.

To help companies navigate the coronavirus crisis, Empeal produced a free toolkit of resources and also made its community-level module free. “We were finding a lot of employers were asking, ‘How can we take care of our people at this time?’ — they were very concerned about how everyone in remote locations was coping not in touch with their workplace or workmates,” says De.

 

“The community engagement part of the platform, which includes fun challenges and community boards, helps employees feel connected and it’s very simple to roll out for HR teams.” Sohini De, Empeal founder

 

4. Peptalk: building community through connection and wellbeing

The three founders of workplace wellbeing platform Peptalk — all former sports stars — know more than most the value of wellbeing when it comes to performance.

“We had all been involved in high performance sports,” says CEO James Brogan, an all-Ireland winner himself and a cousin of Dublin GAA legend Bernard Brogan, another of the co-founders along with Michelle Fogarty, who represented Ireland at taekwondo. “We had seen that to get the best out of people, their lives need to be in balance. What you do off the pitch is as important as what you do on it.”

Peptalk aims to help companies build sustainable high performance cultures through its community-driven employee experience platform. The product includes an insights tool, management toolkits, an employee app and a real-time measurement dashboard.

“We’re helping organisations with those off-the-pitch activities. We’re helping humans to be better at what they do, to have more energy, and to be more focused and resilient,” says Brogan.

He adds that the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the issue of work-life balance: “Senior leaders have seen a different side to their staff. They’re now acutely aware that, unless people have proper support, they won’t be able to work to the best of their ability.”

During the crisis, Peptalk has seen increased engagement from existing clients, while also doubling its usual number of demos to potential customers.

Set up in late 2016, Peptalk has users in 10 countries, including Mondelez, McDonald’s and Paypal. “This is a global challenge faced by multinationals. We offer one solution that works across an organisation, so there is no sense of disconnection with different offices doing different things,” says Brogan.

With serious plans to scale further, Peptalk expects to close out its current funding round later in 2020. “This is the time for us to get out and support as many organisations as we can,” says Brogan. “It’s a challenging time and the need has never been greater for the type of services we offer.”

 

5. Wrkit: easy to implement and clinically-backed 

Founded two decades ago, Wrkit was originally a group benefits scheme, which evolved into an employee discount scheme. While users can still access thousands of discounts on holidays, food, clothes and other products, Wrkit has expanded to offer other services, including a learning portal with 4,500 personal and professional courses, a recognition portal and a wellbeing portal called Powr.

“POWR stands for Positive Occupational Wellness Resources, offering tools such as meditation, breathing exercises and reflective journaling” explains Jason Brennan, Wrkit’s Director of Wellbeing and Leadership.

“The big differentiator between Powr and similar apps is that it offers 430 clinically based behavioural plans put together by psychologists,” says Brennan. “These are based on six paths — mind, sleep, work, life, food and active. When users answer the questionnaires for these paths, they are given a personalised plan.”

“POWR users begin by finding out how they score clinically in the 6 areas of wellbeing and are instantly provided with personalised clinically based plans to improve engagement and growth in each area. During covid for example we saw a huge up take in the activity, work and life plans, helping not only users but employers by feeding back what is happening in real time with their anonymised and aggregated dashboard.”

Wrkit is based in Dublin, but also has offices in London and Massachusetts. Its clients include multinationals such as KPMG, FedEx and Boston Scientific. Its internet-based application can be launched quickly as it requires no specific IT infrastructure, says Brennan.

“All we need to launch is the list of employee ID numbers, and we provide lots of webinars and video tutorials to help staff engage with the tool, which is of course completely confidential.”

When Covid-19 struck, Wrkit quickly found demand rose. “We launched to 60 companies in eight weeks,” says Brennan. “We also quickly created a Coping with Covid portal to help users.”

place based services

UK Market Analysis of ‘Place’ Based Services – Waste Collection, Treatment and Street Cleansing

 

This report provides details of how local authorities work and where Enterprise Ireland’s client companies should focus efforts to win work and develop a sustainable profitable foothold in the UK. The report focuses on two specific areas:
• Understanding the UK local authority landscape, including the types of local authorities, the roles and responsibilities of elected Members and officers and how they fit in with the decision-making process of procuring the type of ‘place based’ services offered by Enterprise Ireland client companies.
• Undertaking market analysis to identify the local authority procurement horizon/ pipeline for ‘place’ based services, focussing on waste collection, treatment and street cleansing services.

Read the report here.

UK Water Sector: Trends and Opportunities 2022-2025 – Webinar

 

In 2020 the UK water sector embarked on AMP 7, its five-year infrastructural spending cycle worth £51 billion. This sum covers a wide array of areas, from decarbonisation to digital, with plenty of opportunities for businesses across the supply chain to get involved in the sector.

This webinar discusses the trends and opportunities in the sector across the regulator’s five key themes, as well as AMP 8.

Topics discussed:

  • Environmental Protection

  • Carbon Reduction and Resilience

  • Digital Agenda

  • Customer Service

  • Collaboration and Innovation

  • Value for Money

  • The Future of the Sector and AMP 8

    Construction in the UK: A Guide to Legal Challenges and the UKCA Mark – Webinar

     

    In this webinar the speakers discuss some of the main legal and regulatory issues currently facing contractors, employers and suppliers in the construction sector across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

    This webinar also discusses the UKCA mark, the new UK product marking that will replace the CE mark on 1 January 2023 in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UKCA mark will be required for construction products being placed in the market. We will also discuss the process of how to certify your products with the UKCA marking.

    Speakers Include:

    • Jamie Ritchie, Partner, LK Shields

    • Dominic Jones, Partner, Blake Morgan

    • Lisa Boyd, Construction and Procurement Lawyer, Gateley Tweed LLP and Gateley Legal

    • Robin Byrne, Head of UK Office, NSAI Certification UK

      Net Zero UK GA Agriculture

      Net Zero UK podcast – The UK agriculture sector – Jon Foot, AHDB

      In Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Net Zero UK’ podcast series, we discuss how the UK plans to transition to a net zero economy and the impact this will have on SMEs.

      In the fifth episode, Jon Foot, Head of Environment and Resource Management at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), discusses the latest sustainability trends in the UK agriculture sector.

       

      UK financial services buildings in London, England

      UK financial services: A lucrative market for Irish companies looking for growth

       

      Consumers and companies are still coming to terms with the new restrictions, rules and regulations in the post-Brexit world. The added disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic added even more change into Ireland’s economic relationship with the UK.

      Slowly, things are beginning to settle down. We can see more clearly how our relationship with our most important trading partner has altered since their withdrawal from the EU.

      One industry that has attracted many headlines is financial services, especially in London, which has long been seen as one of the most important financial hubs in the world.

       

      Overview of the UK financial services market

      In the run-up to Brexit, there was much talk of London losing its dominance in financial services as Brexit played out, but this has certainly not been the case.

      Covid-19 had little effect on the sector too. A 3% reduction in output, 2% of eligible staff furloughed – is negligible when compared to other industries such as hospitality.

      The UK remains one of the biggest financial services markets in the sector globally, and there are many exciting opportunities there for ambitious Irish companies.

       

      Areas of opportunity in the UK financial services market

      “One of the biggest areas of opportunity is in technology, as the financial services industry in the UK is undergoing a rapid and wide-ranging modernisation cycle,” explains Jack Finucane Clarke, Senior Market Advisor, UK Financial Services/Fintech.

      “This is partly driven by the pandemic as companies grapple with remote working, retaining or attracting good staff and partly driven by exponential operability offered by AI, natural language processing and API connections.

      “This is great news for Ireland, as we have a strong reputation for innovative technology solutions, especially in fintech and cybersecurity.”

      “The UK financial services industry is looking for a wide range of technology solutions including HR technology, compliance and regtech, payments, bionic underwriting in insurance, process optimisation and especially technology that can open up new revenue streams.”

      Insurance is a sector that is really starting to embrace digitalisation. With more MGAs coming to the market that are entirely technology-based, there are plenty of opportunities.”

      “Irish companies – such as CodeEast, who recently announced a partnership with WTW and Unitek, an early-stage company based out of Malahide – are getting lucrative deals in the space. The reputation of Irish insurtech is growing in the city, and we hope to see more entrepreneurs developing scalable solutions in the future.”

      The growing influence of technology in financial services can be seen in the make-up of financial services boards of management. Previously, these boards were dominated by accountants, lawyers and bankers. Now, there is strong representation from experts in technology, often coming from other industries.

      “This gives a strong indication of the way in which the industry is going,” says Jack.

      “Technology companies should always be careful to focus on the ‘fin’ rather than the ‘tech’ to ensure the solutions are suitable for financial services.”

       

      Remote working in the UK financial services market

      According to Jack, remote working in the industry has also produced plenty of opportunity for Irish companies.

      “While remote working, project managing remotely, and communicating and selling remotely were considered ‘nice to haves’ before the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s now becoming clear that they are here to stay and are now considered essential to compete within the industry and to attract talent.”

      “At Enterprise Ireland, we are working with financial services clients on adjusting their products and processes to suit remote selling.”

      This is still an area with plenty of opportunities for Irish companies with innovative solutions.

       

      Sustainability in the UK financial services market

      Sustainability is also an important area for innovation,” Jack continues. “The market is ripe with opportunities for Irish businesses to take advantage of this development.”

      At a number of recent events in the UK, Enterprise Ireland executives noted that this is a consistent topic of conversation among the most senior personnel in the industry.

      “There is clearly a strong and increasingly urgent need for solutions in the areas of sustainability and environmental, social and corporate governance.”

       

      Entering the UK financial services market

      A growing trend – and one that underlines once again the growing importance of the market for Irish companies – is the move by some Irish companies to set up a presence in the UK.

      This is generally done either to be regulated in the market or to keep a close proximity to their buyers. Most recently, Global Shares and CurrencyFair have established offices in the UK.

       

      Contact Enterprise Ireland’s Jack Finucane Clarke to learn more about the opportunities for Irish companies in the UK financial services market.

      Net Zero UK podcast – The UK construction sector

      Net Zero UK podcast – The UK construction industry – Tim Chapman, Arup

      In Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Net Zero UK’ podcast series, we discuss how the UK plans to transition to a net zero economy and the impact this will have on SMEs.

      In the fourth episode, Tim Chapman, Director of Infrastructure Design at Arup, speaks about what Arup is doing to lower its emissions, changes in the UK construction industry and how supply chain companies can get to the start line of the journey to net zero.

       

      Net Zero UK podcast – The UK construction sector

      Net Zero UK podcast – The UK construction sector – Lara Young, Costain

      In Enterprise Ireland’s ‘Net Zero UK’ podcast series, we discuss how the UK plans to transition to a net zero economy and the impact this will have on SMEs.

      In the third episode, Lara Young, Group Climate Change Director at Costain, speaks about Costain’s climate ambitions, the journey to net zero in the construction sector and the role of the supply chain moving forward.