Pictured above: Lord Stafford
The founder of the region's leading innovation competition has
urged the East Midlands business community to make the most of
University collaborations to help it emerge from the current
economic downturn.
Lord Stafford, the former Pro Chancellor at Keele University and
driving force behind the Lord Stafford Awards, believes companies
are missing out on a golden opportunity to gain competitive
advantage by failing to maximise the resources and expertise of
further education establishments in the area.
With the recession taking a stronger grip on traditional
industries, he is adamant that 'innovation' and bringing new
products to market could hold the key to increasing sales,
diversification and safeguarding thousands of jobs in the
region.
"The East Midlands has an enviable track record in innovation
after introducing the jet engine, ibuprofen, DNA fingerprinting and
the MRI scanner to the world and now is the time to create our next
legacy," explained Lord Stafford, who first launched the
competition in Staffordshire in 1997.
"There is plenty of investment in R&D but just 4% of East
Midlands turnover relates to new or improved products compared to
an average of 9% for the rest of the UK. This is where the
importance of business and academia working closer together is so
important."
He went on to add: "Companies - hamstrung by rising costs
and poor cashflow - are finding it ever more difficult to invest in
development work and yet most are still not accessing the
unrivalled research and knowledge of nearby Universities.
"This expertise is world leading and is often free to businesses
with a new product or idea. Now is the time to make the most of
this opportunity."
The Lord Stafford Awards, which was first launched in the East
Midlands in 2008, is designed to showcase what can be achieved by
businesses and universities collaborating to bring innovation to
the commercial marketplace.
Its aim is to encourage more companies and educations
establishments to work together and to highlight how knowledge
transfer can provide bottom line benefits, including greater
productivity, more sales and better margins.
"It's not just about the business that benefits, these are joint
partnerships," continued Lord Stafford.
"Universities can gain valuable experience of the commercial
world, develop spin-outs and secure important progression routes
for their graduates. It's a cliché, but it is a real win-win
situation."
Backed by the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA), MAS East
Midlands, the East Midlands University Association and Lincolnshire
County Council, the Lord Stafford Awards received more than 50
entries this year with space engineering firm Magna Parva and media
capturing specialist Fiteris already announced as two of the
finalists.
There are three categories this year; 'Innovation Achieved',
'Innovation in Development' and 'Innovation in Sustainability'. The
winners will be revealed at the grand final due to be held at the
Epic Centre, Lincolnshire, on the 10th September.
Lord Stafford concluded: "emda has established 'East Midlands
Innovation' to really drive this agenda and the £20m action
plan has already created innovation networks in healthcare and
bioscience, food and drink, sustainable construction and transport
equipment.
"These are all based around sharing expertise and ideas and I
genuinely hope our awards scheme can boost this strategy even
further."
Seizing the innovative approach, the Lord Stafford Awards has
just launched its own Facebook page and Twitter presence, which
will help promote the competition and provide updates on
shortlisted businesses and winners.