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Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce has been awarded the most innovation funding of any º£½ÇÊÓƵ company over the last 18 years, new research suggests.

The company, which has its º£½ÇÊÓƵ sites in Filton, near Bristol, and Derby, has been handed £689m by Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ over nearly two decades - equivalent to nearly £38.2m each year. It is over four times more than any other company has received for their innovation projects, and accounts for 7% of all funding awarded by the government's innovation agency.

In July, Rolls-Royce announced it was in the final stages of building the world's largest jet engine. Significant investment has been made to develop the UltraFan demonstrator and associated technologies by Rolls-Royce and a variety of funding agencies.

The research – conducted by intellectual property services and R&D tax credit firm GovGrant – analysed publicly available Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ data.

Luke Hamm, chief executive of GovGrant, said: “Rolls-Royce is a compelling success story and it highlights the vital role that innovation funding plays in supporting local economies, and could contribute to the wider ‘levelling up’ agenda if targeted correctly.

“It’s extraordinary that Rolls-Royce PLC has received 11.73% of all Innovate º£½ÇÊÓƵ funding to commercial entities, which is a huge sum to be awarded to one company. This either underlines the importance of collaboration and the role large organisations play in our innovation economy, or brings into question whether the funding process is a level playing field for smaller businesses.

"However, I’m sure there are instances of SMEs local to Rolls-Royce locations – and collaborators across the º£½ÇÊÓƵ – who experience a trickle-down effect from this funding.”

Overall, businesses in the South West region have attracted 11.03% of funding from Innovation º£½ÇÊÓƵ since 2004, worth over £647m. This is the third-highest figure from the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s 12 regions, ranking above East of England (10.79%), West Midlands (7.71%) and East Midlands (6.83%).