Introducing: UKAEA's SME Surgeries
About UKAEA's SME Surgeries
Our SME Surgeries are intended to facilitate one-to-one discussions about how UKAEA can support SMEs within the fusion industry. We aim to use the information and feedback received during these sessions to make meaningful changes at UKAEA to help increase the number of SMEs working within fusion.
We would like to hear your experiences, what works well, the barriers you face, and what is required to make fusion opportunities accessible.
The intended outcome for us is to share knowledge and to understand from an SMEs perspective what works well, what could be improved, and explore solutions to challenges faced. This will help inform our SME Action Plan going forward.
SME Surgeries will be held on a bi-monthly basis with members of UKAEA's Commercial Function.
These sessions are open to all SMEs who are interested in working within the fusion sector.
Why attend our SME surgeries?
By attending these sessions, you will have an opportunity to speak directly with members of UKAEA's Commercial Team and help shape our SME Action Plan. Sessions will primarily be hosted by Amy Coulson and John Ruddleston, although other colleagues may also support.
You can use this time to:
- Introduce your business
- Ask questions
- Share your experiences
Where possible, we’ll take actions away and look to include them in our SME Action Plan to help address the challenges SMEs face. We want to ensure our initiatives make a real difference.
If you have specific questions, feedback, or ideas, then these sessions are a great forum to share and discuss.
We are committed to increasing our engagement with SMEs, and these sessions have been developed directly in response to feedback we've received.
What to Expect
- Each session is a dedicated one-to-one conversation, with only one SME attending at a time
- For the best engagement and focused conversation, we recommend that no more than three representatives from each company attend the session
- Sessions will be hosted virtually via Microsoft Teams
- Please come with one focus point to ensure we have adequate time to discuss thoroughly
- The sessions will be strictly 30 minutes and will finish on time to ensure we do not overrun and impact subsequent sessions
- Please only book one session - multiple bookings for the same date will be rejected
Booking a session
Slots per date are limited, so please only register for a slot if you are certain you can attend. In addition, please explain what you would like to gain from attending the surgery so that the team can assess beforehand and prepare appropriately.
We are moderating registrations for each slot so please be patient with us while we filter through registrations. If your ticket has been accepted, you will receive confirmation and a Microsoft Teams invite separately.
If you are unable to secure a ticket this time, do not worry - these sessions will be held bi-monthly and additional dates will be made available. If you would like to express your interest in our SME Surgeries, please email supplychain@ukaea.uk.
Please note, we are an executive non-departmental public body that operates in accordance with UK Government Policy and Public Procurement Legislation (Procurement Act 2023).
Note: In line with the UK Government Sanctions, UKAEA is not conducting any procurement, commercial, business development or supply chain activity with any Belarus or Russian entity.
