Food and drink firms in South Lincolnshire are being invited to
climb aboard a business support bus when it rolls into town - and
discover new routes to success.
The Food and Drink iNet outreach bus will be at Springfields
Outlet Shopping Centre, Spalding, on Tuesday July 20th between 10am
and 4pm.
On board will be business advisors from the Food and Drink iNet
and the Sustainable Construction iNet, who will be able to offer
free innovation advice and guidance.
As well as signposting firms to the help and support that's
available for businesses in the area from the iNets, they will also
be highlighting opportunities such as CompeteFor, which is a free
service that enables businesses to compete for contract
opportunities linked to the London 2012 Games and other major
public and private sector buying organisations. Other programmes
that will come under the spotlight are Angle Plc, the Wash Fen
Programme and Select Lincolnshire.
"The outreach bus is a really handy way for us to get out onto
the road to spread the message about the iNets and the free
innovation support that the iNet business advisors can offer," said
Rachel Linstead, Lincolnshire Business Advisor for the Food and
Drink iNet. "We will also be promoting additional business support
that's available in the area, and showing firms how easy it is to
register for CompeteFor, which could be the first step towards them
getting involved in supplying food and drink for the 2012 Olympics.
"That could prove to be a massive opportunity for food and drink
firms in Lincolnshire."
The roadshow event coincides with the South Holland Food
Festival, which runs from 19th July to 15th August 2010.
Businesses working in the food and drink sector, the
construction sector and in other areas are encouraged to drop in to
the outreach bus during the visit to Lincolnshire on July 20th.
Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Food and Drink iNet
co-ordinates innovation support for businesses, universities and
individuals working in the food and drink sector in the East
Midlands. One of four iNets, it strives to develop an effective
network to encourage the collaboration of academic expertise and
knowledge, and local food and drink business innovation needs.
It aims to build on the tradition of innovation in the food and
drink industry in the region by helping to create opportunities to
develop knowledge and skills, and to help research, develop and
implement new products, markets, services and processes.
During the initial two-year phase of the Food and Drink iNet,
more than 300 businesses in the region were supported, grants were
given to 57 firms, and funding was provided for nine university
collaboration projects. It also ran a successful series of events
that attracted more than 650 delegates from 150 businesses to look
at some of the key industry issues, as well as staging three best
practice factory visits.
Now the second phase of the Food and Drink iNet has begun and
there are plans to build on the work that's already been achieved
in supporting food and drink manufacturers in the East
Midlands.
The Food and Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the
Food & Drink Forum and including Food Processing Faraday,
Nottingham Trent University, the University of Lincoln, and the
University of Nottingham. It is based at Southglade Food Park,
Nottingham, with advisors covering the East Midlands region.