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Last week the UK Government unveiled £20m of grant funding for small and medium-sized businesses in England to access between £1,000 - £5,000 for new equipment and technology and specialist advice to help them get through the coronavirus pandemic.

The funding is coming from a pot of money from the EU and the support will be fully funded, meaning there is no obligation for businesses to contribute financially themselves.

Great news for any companies working in the Highways and Construction industry, as this funding can help implement a digital workflow solution that enables a company to:

• Create jobs and include copies of all project information, task lists and plant/equipment required. This is sent digitally, so no requirement for physical documents to be printed and distributed, eliminating the need for someone to be in the office. How does this work?

• Assign these jobs to staff, schedule them on a calendar and even add map locations. If someone is unavailable for work or the job needs to be split to maintain social distancing, you can drag and drop jobs to someone else instantly. Find out more.

• Any kind of form you need can be included, so risk assessments, timesheets, site inductions, visitor records, permits, toolbox talk logs, waste management forms, stock records, SHEQ forms, HAV forms or even chemical use logs can be completed by an operative and submitted back to the office, through a device from site without anyone having to swing by the office. More about forms

• To avoid any confusion, photos can be taken, annotated and submitted, so nothing gets lost in translation. Perfect if you're operating as lone workers or people can’t be at the same place at the same time. How does this work?

• If you can't be present to oversee work, be sure the right person completed the work at the right place and time by using digital time, date and GPS stamps to tag all the information, completed with a digital signature to sign it off. How does this work?

• With everything then submitted, quotes and invoices can be issued by the system, along with management reports and anything required for a full audit trail is instantly available in the project, so you can speed up your time to invoice at a time when cash flow is paramount. See how returns and reports work

Mike Saunders, MD of Re-flow said;

This grant has a dual benefit to the UK small businesses in highways and construction, as there has never been a greater need for businesses to make their operations digital. Primarily, this investment will enable companies to reap the long-term efficiencies of replacing manual processes and paperwork with instant information and communication workflow tools on everyone’s smartphone.

In the immediate term, it also helps companies remain operational with the ongoing pandemic by enabling them to invest in solutions for lone/remote working and social distancing that reduce the need for unnecessary interactions.

The grants can be accessed via a Local Growth Hub. Find yours here and register your interest to begin the application process. https://www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/

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