Made Smarter South East
Made Smarter South East is making it easier for makers, creators and manufacturers in the South East to innovate, upskill and grow their business by adopting industrial digital technologies.
Our fully funded package of support for eligible SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) businesses includes the opportunity to work with a team of experts to unlock the support you need to grow. We’ll help you create a detailed action plan to digitally transform your business. You could also access training programmes to increase your workforce’s digital skills, match-funded grants to purchase hardware or software, and leadership development support.
What is Made Smarter?
The result of an independent review of industrial digitalisation, commissioned by the UK Government and led by Professor Juergen Maier CBE, the Made Smarter movement seeks to “equip the UK with the means to fully embrace the next industrial revolution”.
The programme has now been adopted in the South East region – including Berkshire, Brighton and Hove, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Medway, Oxfordshire, Solent, Surrey and West Sussex.
The programme is being delivered from April 2025 until the end of March 2026. Surrey County Council is the lead body for delivery in the South East.
Why take part?
Localised advice and support
Our Digital Transformation Specialists will assess your business to ensure you are given the specialist support you need. We will help you develop an action plan for adopting digital technology – this roadmap may include a leadership development programme, being offered a digital internship placement, or receiving a match funded grant.
Localised digital transformation workshops
We aim to connect makers with the digital tools that will help transform the way they work. The programme will grow your business through emerging digital technology and help you cut costs, get to market faster, improve efficiency and reduce downtime.
A detailed diagnostic and assessment process will help you to develop a strategic action plan towards Industrial Digital Technologies (IDT) Adoption. This includes investment recommendations within the business case.
Localised leadership development
The South East Adoption Leadership programme is delivered in partnership with the University of Salford. It offers online learning sessions, supported by collaborative events dependent on the requirements of the business.
Localised funding support
Up to 50% match funding (maximum of £20,000) is available for equipment (hardware or software).
Who can take part?
The eligibility criteria for SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) manufacturers, makers and creators:
- Fewer than 250 employees
- Annual turnover below £44 million
- Received less than £350,000 in State Aid in the last three years
- The business includes UK based manufacturing / production processes
- Not part of a larger group or owned by Private Equity.
How to get started
Click on the below link to register for the Made Smart South East programme:
Made Smart South East – Get Started
Testimonials from East Sussex businesses
Taking part in the workshop really helped us step back and look at new ways to build on the systems we already have. It encouraged us to explore how Al-driven tools could support staff training and customer communication, as well as how digital compliance, HR systems, and energy monitoring could improve performance and sustainability. We're now also looking at further developing our bespoke ordering platform to include a built-in sales and marketing system, helping us streamline operations, centralise customer data, and work more efficiently across the business.
We have grown rapidly over the past five years and knew it was time to become more digitalised, but we needed help understanding what systems would work best for our business and how we could implement them successfully. The Digital Transformation Workshop was a real turning point. It gave us a clear, honest view of our business and helped us identify where digital technology could unlock real value. We now have a clear roadmap and a much better understanding of the digital tools and support available to help us scale smarter.
