Business and Universities must lead the East Midlands out of recession warns innovation chief

The founder of the East Midlands’ leading innovation competition has urged the region’s 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 East Midlands.

“The region 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 the shortlisted companies set to be announced over the coming weeks.

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.

For further information, please visit www.thelordstaffordawards.co.uk