Research and Knowledge Exchange(RAKE)Fund

Created in recognition of the key contribution of small businesses to the contemporary economy, the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) has joined together with Barclays Bank and the ESRC to create the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) Fund. 

The RAKE Fund has a specific aim to support the exploration of issues, challenges and opportunities surrounding entrepreneurial activities and small firm performance within the contemporary UK economy. It has a broad remit to encourage the widest range of innovative applications, and research which is relevant to both the development of policy and practice. 

ISBE has now announced  this year's successful applicants who will receive financial support to carry out innovative new research. The fund received a phenomenal response and a huge number of bids following its launch in early 2009. All applications were put through a rigorous selection process and the five winning bids were formally announced at the prestigious ISBE 2009 Conference awards ceremony held this November at St George’s Hall in Liverpool.

The five award holders are:

Professor Neil Kay of Strathclyde University with the project The effect of EC Market Integration and Community Funding on Small Firm Cross-frontier technological collaboration

Professor Marcela Miozzo of Manchester Business School with Do cross-border acquisitions affect local and regional knowledge creation, exchange and spillovers?: an analysis of knowledge intensive firms in the UK

Arnaud Drapier of UK Business Incubation with Designing and developing an electronic tool for the effective Accreditation and Measurement of the Performance and Added Value of Business Incubation Environments in Supporting the Commercialisation and Growth of Business Ventures

Professor Keith Dickson of Brunel University with Emotional Entrepreneurs: An exploratory study of small-scale UK theatre co-founders

Dr Farid Ullah of Robert Gordon University with The Impact of the Credit Crunch on the Financing and Growth of Technology-Based Small Firms in the United Kingdom

 The projects are now under way and the results will be presented at a number of regional work shops throughout 2010. ISBE is proud to support these exciting new research projects which they have selected as being of the highest calibre with demonstrable impact.

Bids re-open yearly and the next call will be in Spring 2010.