Space start-ups generated almost £9 million in investment and created 80 new jobs after taking part in a UK Space Agency-backed business support programme.

The UK Space Agency Space Accelerator Programme, delivered by Entrepreneurial Spark, worked with entrepreneurs from all over the UK aged between 18-70, with business expertise in sectors such as aerospace, law, quantum technology, farming, environmental engineering, and healthcare.

Delivered through a series of virtual events led by a range of industry experts, the Accelerator aimed to break down perceived barriers facing under-represented business founders and open conversations about the opportunities that space can present.

Harshbir Sangha, Director of Growth at UK Space Agency, said:

I’d like to congratulate everyone who successfully completed our Space Accelerator. The UK has a strong entrepreneurial culture and a growing space sector, and there are significant opportunities for new space businesses to start up and thrive with the right support.

The Space Accelerator perfectly encapsulates the value we seek to bring as an agency: catalysing investment, delivering space capabilities and championing space. With record levels of investment flowing into the sector, we want to accelerate the growth in space start ups and create thousands of new jobs across the UK.

Participants included start-up leaders, established businesses in their early stages, and professionals from adjacent sectors who could benefit from space expertise, generating a vast and diverse network of multi-skilled space pioneers.

The UK Space Agency awarded £360,000 to the Accelerator over two financial years. This catalysed a total investment of £8.79 million from other grants and investors, opening up 80 new jobs and directly assisting 88 individual businesses between January 2020 and April 2022.

Since joining the programme, participants have reported an increase in their business turnover and customer numbers, as well as improved confidence in their own leadership skills, strategy planning, business models and partnerships.

James New, Co-founder and CEO of ODIN Space Ltd, said:

Our biggest achievement during the accelerator was raising our first round of investment. We raised £430,000 and it has massively boosted our growth.

The support from UK Space Agency, Entrepreneurial Spark and the delivery partners helped us hone our business model and boost our confidence when pitching to investors. It really felt like we were part of a major industry movement to develop new space businesses.

ODIN Space is now ready to launch and start protecting space assets against orbital debris.

The growing UK space sector is already worth £16.5 billion to the economy and employs almost 47,000 from all over the UK, representing a huge area of opportunity for a range of businesses. The first satellite launches from the UK, due to take off later this year, will also help to drive growth in the sector and enhance the UK’s position as a leader in the global space community.

The Space Accelerator Programme was developed in collaboration with partners including Airbus, Astroscale, the European Space Agency, Department for International Trade, STFC RAL Space and others. Entrepreneurial Spark provided one-to-one support to the participants, specialising in developing entrepreneurial mindsets in technically focused founders. Alden Legal hosted a series of regulatory and access to finance workshops, while AstroAgency delivered space focused market prioritisation and competitive analysis workshops and one-to-one sessions with participants. Grey Consultants provided open access business horizons tech talks to engage new-to-space attendees from all around the UK.

The UK Space Agency is now looking for a partner to design and deliver the next space accelerator phase to run until March 2025. This will include providing a focused package of targeted support to space companies at different stages of development and equip programme participants with the knowledge and skills they need to grow, wherever they are based in the UK.

Entrepreneurial Spark is an impact-led accelerator for entrepreneurs. With a decade of global experience running 22 accelerators, it has supported over 5,000 founders to start, grow and scale their businesses. The Entrepreneurial Spark team members are experts in people, with a focus on helping entrepreneurs overcome the psychological barriers to growth while building great businesses.

General Item

First of all, as I wasn’t here on 7th July, let me say a formal congratulations to the DG, Secretariat and Kazakhstan as Chair who played such a vital role at the Ministerial Conference. It was a remarkable result for this organisation and for the trading system, but also for multilateralism, at a time when people have questioned whether multilateralism can stand up to the challenges of those who question the rules-based system.

Let me pick up three small points; the first is about implementation. Let me welcome the work that you Chair and the secretariat are doing to set out how it is we are going to implement the outcomes of MC12 and I think that is a really important piece of work to keep us focused on implementation. And let me, like others, flag two particular areas, one of which is the ratification of the fisheries agreement which after all, is a ground-breaking agreement for this organisation, our first environmental agreement and one of upmost importance to the world’s fisheries and to communities that rely upon them. I agree with others that say we need press on with the work to build on that agreement, at the same time as you work to ratify what we have achieved, but also I would like to echo the Singaporean Ambassador’s words on e-commerce. It was vital that we renewed that moratorium. It is vital that we keep our eyes on why that moratorium is so important to businesses across the world, developed, developing, micro-businesses as well as the largest businesses in the global economy. It is an enabler of digital growth across the global economy and one we need to sustain as we move forward.

Second point is about learning lessons from MC12. It was a success but we can do better and we must do better at MC13. Brazil has offered some really helpful suggestions in terms of addressing the frequency of our Ministerial meetings and we warmly welcome those proposals, but they’re not enough, they’re not enough. But we can and must do better, both in de-dramatising Ministerials but also to prepare better for them. Also to look at our working methods, to ensure that they meet the needs of the organisation of the 2020s.

Third on the substance. Others have already praised those who are departing our shores and welcomed those who are arriving in Geneva. I think the comments this morning remind us of what we are losing in this organisation. Their comments are absolutely on the spot of the substance of the issues that are facing us. And while we are right to congratulate ourselves of what we achieved at MC12, we must also be cognisant of what we did not manage to achieve at MC12 , whether that be in agriculture, or in terms of services, digital trade, or green goods and services. As we look outside this room at the challenges we face with climate change, the Horn of Africa facing famine as a result of years of drought. As we face the challenges that have been posed to the global economy by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we need to keep our eyes on that bigger prize, of how this organisation. How global trade and the rules that we set enable the green transition and the transition to net-zero. How we can build respect for multilateral rules and the rules based order and we can ensure that the green transition delvers for everybody. Developed and developing, micro-businesses and bigger businesses for our workers, for our consumers, for our societies and our planet. In our effort to implement MC12, we must not lose sight of that bigger picture of how global trade can contribute to those wider common goals, thank you.

TRIPS Council Matters

First of all, let me start by thanking the Chair, the DG and others involved for delivering the WTO’s response to the pandemic including the TRIPS Decision at MC12. That outcome was clearly important in demonstrating how trade can contribute to the response to the pandemic – it was an important outcome both substantively and for the credibility of the WTO.

As others have said today, the pandemic is clearly not over, and significant issues remain with vaccine equity and access.

The UK remains absolutely committed to addressing vaccine inequity and believes that the WTO is pivotal to help find solutions to address the current challenges we face, like manufacturing constraints and supply chain issues, including export restrictions and tariff barriers on COVID-19 critical products.

We have always maintained that IP is part of the response to the pandemic. We are focused on how the IP framework can continue being used to address real issues we are now seeing as the pandemic evolves.

I recall in that context the comments made on Friday by the Chief Executive of GAVI Seth Berkley, that we are now living in “a world of vaccine abundance” in which they are having to work with pharmaceutical companies to minimise wastage in the system. So we need to keep an eye on what is happening in the real world and not how we perceived the situation to be a year or two years ago.

The UK will continue to engage constructively and in good faith on discussions regarding an extension to therapeutics and diagnostics.

The appropriate forum for these discussions is the TRIPS Council. The UK’s view on this issue and next steps is on the record from the last TRIPS Council, so I won’t repeat it here.

We will be focused on doing our homework over the summer to ensure we can have an evidence-based and informed discussion we resume in September. And I hope that other members of this organisations do the same.

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Graduation

We continue very much to celebrate LDC Graduation; it is a cause for celebration when a country graduates from that status.

But we do recognise – like others here – the challenges that LDCs face when graduating. And that’s one reason why we will continue to provide a transition period and even more generous preferences on the eagerly awaited Developing Countries Trading Scheme, which we will be unveiling with great fanfare later this year.

And we share some of the frustration in this room in thinking that we probably could have achieved an outcome on this issue at MC12. We, for our part, tried to play our bit to try and establish common ground with other delegations. And we thank the Republic of Korea, amongst others, for their efforts to do the same.

So we thank the LDC Group for their flexibility, and for approaching these discussions in a spirit of compromise. Flexibility, openness, proactive compromises are going to be required from all of us if we are to reach a successful conclusion to this issue.

So we remain committed to working with other delegations here to help LDCs, and LDC Graduates, to integrate further into the multilateral trading system, and to enjoy the fruits of economic growth that flow from that.

Thank you very much.

Improved Notifications Compliance Proposal

Please allow me to say what has already been said, but let me just reiterate it. First of all we thank the work by the United States and the cosponsors, we thank them for the way they have engaged with other delegations on this. Transparency is an essential part of this organisation’s work, we do it well, but we could do it better. That is what this proposal is all about, making our existing work better without new obligations but with some new incentives. Just as we came together at MC12, to find agreement on some issues on which different delegations had different concerns, I hope we can come together on this proposal, find consensus and improve the work of our organisation to the benefit of all Members, thank you.

Reform Proposal

It’s clear that if you listen to this debate that we all want to see this organisation reformed, but we’ve all got very different ideas of what reform means, so I take due note of what is in this communication and the comments made by colleagues in this hall this morning. I think we ought to be aware that different Members have different views, different visions, and as we resume this work back in September under your guidance, your consultations, we need to find ways to find common ground as we did again, at the Ministerial, and not assume that any one vision can answer the needs of the organisation as a whole.

The prestigious Chevening Scholarships and Fellowships offer full financial support for a one-year master’s at any UK university and for 8-12 week professional development courses, respectively.

The Chevening programme in India is the largest in the world, benefiting over 3,500 scholars and fellows since 1983. The number of awards on offer in India have increased further, with the Adani Group co-sponsoring 15 additional scholarships in artificial intelligence over three years. The Chevening Fellowships on offer this year are: Chevening India Cyber Security Fellowship; Chevening Research, Science, and Innovation Leadership Fellowship; Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence; South Asia Journalism Fellowship.

The British High Commission in New Delhi hosted a special reception today for the scholars chosen as part of the UK’s Government special initiative to offer additional scholarships in celebration of India’s 75th year of Independence – with the support of HSBC India, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo – over 60% of this cohort hailed from non-metro cities, and 50% are women

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said:

Investing in your education in another country is a defining experience; so many congratulations to the next generation of India’s leaders going to the UK as Chevening scholar. It was fantastic to hear about the inspiring plans and to share ideas with them about what they should do and where they should go in the UK.

Chevening offers people an unparalleled opportunity to experience the best of the UK, with full financial support. I’m delighted that we have been able to achieve one of our most diverse cohorts this year, with the amazing support from our partners. I encourage even more people from across India to apply for a Chevening Scholarship and Fellowships.

Chevening alumni in India include Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, Global CEO for Tata Steel T.V. Narendran, and the former Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Girija Vaidyanathan.

To find a Chevening Fellowship programme, click here. The deadline to apply is 12 October 2022.

Chevening Scholarships include tuition, living expenses and travel cost for a one-year master’s. For further details on applying for Chevening Scholarship, click here. The last date to apply is 1 November 2022.

Adani will co-sponsor 15 scholars in the next three years (five per year).

For media queries, please contact:

Media queries: BHCMediaDelhi@fco.gov.uk

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Judy Andrea Roach (54), from Thamesmead, south London, was the sole director of JAR Training Consultancy Limited. The company, incorporated in September 2015, partnered with further education colleges, and provided training to apprentice sports coaches in the Blackburn area.

JAR Training Consultancy, however, entered into creditors voluntary liquidation in March 2021 and the company’s insolvency triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Following support from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, who shared information with the Insolvency Service, investigators uncovered that Judy Roach failed to ensure that JAR Training Consultancy maintained and/or preserved adequate accounting records throughout the life of the company.

This meant that investigators could not verify what happened to more than £2.5 million worth of public funds secured through the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Unsubstantiated payments included £1.77 million paid to tutors and assessors, more than £171,000 paid to Judy Roach’s family members, and just over £41,000 paid to a contractor who carried out building work to Judy Roach’s home.

On 13 July 2022, the Secretary of State accepted a 7-year disqualification undertaking from Judy Roach after she did not dispute that she failed to ensure JAR Training Consultancy maintained and/or preserved adequate accounting records or in the alternative she failed to deliver up adequate records to the liquidators.

Effective from 3 August 2022, Judy Roach is banned from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

JAR Training Consultancy’s liquidator is considering the recovery of funds.

Mark Bruce, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Every limited company has a legal duty to maintain accounting records, especially those that receive millions of pounds worth of public funding. Judy Roach, however, totally disregarded her duties, which meant she was unable to explain exactly what happened to more than £2.5 million of income provided by the government.

Thanks to the joint working between the Education and Skills Funding Agency and the Insolvency Service, Judy Roach has been removed from the corporate arena for a substantial period. Her ban should serve as a stark warning to other rogue directors that action will be taken against those who misuse public funds and abuse the taxpayer.

Howard Tobias, Head of Enforcement at the Education and Skills Funding Agency, said:

I am pleased to note the success of this new joint working between the Insolvency Service and ESFA. Failing to keep or deliver up books and records will not preclude the directors of such companies from further scrutiny and sanction. This outcome demonstrates that the ESFA is prepared to take robust action and we will work with regulatory partners across government to hold them to account.

Judy Andrea Roach is from Thamesmead, London, and her date of birth is November 1967.

JAR Training Consultancy Limited (Company Reg no. 09787821).

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings. Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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