13.01.14
£8m competition to improve Britain’s high streets
A new £8m competition has been launched to reinvigorate the UK’s high streets, the government has announced.
The competition will be run by the Technology Strategy Board, under the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). Businesses will be invited to apply for the funding to trial innovative ways of addressing challenges facing the high street.
It will include new approaches to retailing/services, logistics, travel, and traffic.
Universities and science minister David Willetts said: “Technology plays a vital role in people’s everyday lives and has the ability to influence our movements and shopping habits. By developing innovations to regenerate the retail sector we will be able to breathe new life into the UK’s high streets.
“This competition will encourage exciting new developments that could change the way business is done across our high streets. Giving shoppers and businesses real time information that they can use to their advantage will make a real difference in helping to boost the UK economy.”
The Technology Strategy Board's chief executive, Iain Gray, said: “There is real appetite among business and consumers to come up with new ways to regenerate our high streets.
“This competition is aimed at encouraging businesses of all sizes to come up with innovations that address key challenges, such as ways we can combine both physical and virtual shopping or develop real-time parking information.”
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