UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) teamed up with the University of Kent to present funded COVID-19-related research to local MP Sir Roger Gale.
Meeting In-Person, in the Stacey Building on campus, researchers were invited to present their findings, followed by a small discussion with Sir Roger Gale who was given a tour of the Kent labs earlier that morning.
Dr Anthony Savagar presented ‘Business creation in the UK‘. Funded by ERSC the project has been exploring the impact of COVID-19 on business creation in the UK by assessing monthly real time figures from Companies House since the global pandemic began.
Postdoctoral Research Associate Yannis Galankis, created slides of recent firm creation specifically in North Thanet, Sir Roger’s constituency, showing growth in areas such as Birchington and Herne Bay, which motivated discussion between Savagar and Gale.
“It reminded me of the benefits of meeting in person” Savagar told us “and engaging with local people who have their ear to the ground and an understanding of the issues that people in small businesses are going through, such as difficulty accessing loans etc.. You don’t get that sort of knowledge from academics.”
Dr Alfred Duncan also presented his project on SMEs and Dr Catherine Robinson from Kent Business School also joined.