We are very pleased to have G &H Associates (Europe) Ltd (GHE) onboard as an NBCC member! To get to know them properly, we had a chat with Richard Hancock, director.
Nice to meet you Richard, could you tell us a bit about the company?
It is great to finally be involved in NBCC! We are experts in accessing EU and UK grant funding schemes for research and innovation projects. With over 25 years of experience, established relationships with both EU and UK funding authorities plus a strong track record, we provide project development and application submission expertise to companies and organisations, from SMEs to multinationals. Our range of resources and services support the needs of clients wishing to participate in grant funding programmes and delivers funding solutions tailored to each company’s specific needs.
GHE is non-industry specific, although we do have particular strengths in Health, Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, Biotechnology, Information and Communication Technologies, Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies, Environment, and Transport & Security. Our dedicated project team ensures that clients are able to negotiate a path to funding that is seamless from concept to delivery; from initial consultation through strategic development and proposal development to project management.
That sounds really interesting! You must be working on many exciting projects then?
Absolutely. We are currently working on 62 projects which cover a variety of innovations across multiple industrial sectors! We have one of the highest deliverance of projects to the EU. The choice I had to make when starting up the business was to either be industry-specific or EU-specific. We chose the latter. It is beneficial to work with innovators from across all industries as it helps us to understand the broader picture, which is a part of our success.
But one question that pops to my mind is why you chose to become a member of the NBCC and your relevance to Norway, seeing that neither Norway nor the UK are members of the EU?
Fortunately, the lack of EU membership doesn’t preclude Norwegian or UK companies from applying for EU grants. So, in response to the question, we have worked with many Scandinavian companies in the past 12 years. We have many clients in Sweden and Denmark but would now like to develop our Norwegian connections to further expand into the Scandinavian industries. The work that NBCC is doing is essential for cross-border trade and it is exciting to be a part of that work and get more involved within the organisation.
We do really enjoy helping to build the bridge between our countries. How will the trade between Norway and the UK develop, and where will it be in 10 years?
There has always been a successful trading operation between our countries. Hopefully, it will only be strengthened through further cooperation such as the new power pipelines. Most British companies and organisations are unaware of the opportunities within technology and business development in Norway. If we can manage to increase awareness through cooperation with organisations such as NBCC, then the relationship can grow and become even stronger.
Moving onto a different topic, do you have views on the importance of technology, insight, ingenuity and talent, as we aim to make a better future for everyone?
I believe that if you don’t embrace these principles, then you will go backwards. Norway is encouraging the development of new technology at a high level. This is vital for the long-term future. However, the UK has a bit of learning to do, from that aspect, and we should also encourage more new technology. We are not great at doing this. What we are great at is exporting our local talent abroad because we don’t promote or facilitate opportunities and create the conditions for them to stay. This is an issue as there is no doubt that technology will change the world, as it has done before. To be a bit more specific, the new technology that we need to embrace and understand in order to make the best use of it, is AI and robotics. These are slowly coming in some industries and making their way more rapidly in others, and if you don’t accept this or embrace it, then you’ll see yourself go backwards. That’s not a good business strategy.
It has been an absolute pleasure talking to you Richard. We are really looking forward to seeing where our cooperation can go, and we hope we can assist you in meeting your goals! If you want to know more about GHE, we recommend you have a look at their website here.
