Saturday 4th September 2010 1.44pm
Post your Events Small businesses and SMEs across the North East are set to benefit from an innovative voucher scheme.
Accessed via Business Link and delivered by the North East England Investment Centre, the Innovation Vouchers project is providing £2.4 million for regional businesses to access support services from universities, colleges and other partners – collectively known as knowledge based institutions.
Part of the government’s overall Solutions for Business framework, the vouchers will encourage collaboration between businesses and academic institutions to help organisations improve their efficiencies and service offer.
The vouchers are valued from £3,000 up to £7,000 dependent on the project. Organisations most likely to benefit from support will be in the process of developing or testing a technology, product or service. However, the activity must be new. Existing projects and activities with knowledge based institutions are not eligible for support.
Backing the initiative is Sunderland-based Design Right Solutions (DRS). Established five years ago by the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), the company specialises in helping businesses develop new products and is one of only a handful of organisations in the region to be an accredited MAS supplier.
The accreditation means that DRS can offer all the services needed to develop a product from conception to completion, taking into account market conditions, legal issues, prototyping, packaging and distribution.
Ray Rutter, manager of DRS, said: “We are really excited about the Innovation Vouchers Scheme and are looking forward to helping our clients access this funding and the support of the region’s top academic institutions.
“The vouchers mean that people with innovative ideas or designs will now have the financial backing to get assistance, support and advice from companies like us (DRS) and watch their products come to fruition.”
Alastair MacColl, chief executive of Business & Enterprise North East, which delivers the Business Link service in the region, said: “Increasing innovation in North East England will be crucial to the region’s long term prosperity, so continuing to invest in the ongoing generation of great business ideas is vital.
“At Business Link we want to ensure that the North East is the best place in the UK to run an innovative business or service. Encouraging innovation and maximising its potential will both help to develop new areas of opportunity and also protect and reinforce those areas in which the region already excels. The new Innovation Vouchers represent an outstanding example of how this region is helping SMEs and knowledge based institutions to work together, providing the catalyst for the development of viable new products and services.
“Solutions for Business has been designed to make key business support products easier to access and I urge firms in the North East to contact Business Link in order to find out how their enterprise can benefit from the range of support that is now available.”
The Innovation Vouchers project is being part financed by the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13, securing £1.2m ERDF investment which has been matched by regional development agency One North East.
Innovation Vouchers will be distributed via the North East England Investment Centre (NEEIC) following an initial business needs analysis by Business Link.
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