You may be interested to hear that the latest call for Innovation Vouchers has just been announced. If successful, these will provide you with £3,000 of assistance from a university in the West Midlands.
Further information is available at http://www.innovationvouchers-wm.com/
However to give you an idea, The Innovation Voucher Scheme awards West Midland SMEs a £3,000 voucher to purchase academic support for an innovation at any of the region's 13 universities. Here are some examples of the type of activity you could use the support to undertake
- innovation / technology audit.
new service delivery and customer interface.
new business model development.
tailored training in innovation management.
efficiency audits, process change supply chain management and logistics.
product and service testing and economic impact assessment.
product development.
business and leadership school.
Feasibility study.
Priority will be given to businesses in the following sectors
- Health and Medical Technologies
Environmental/Energy
New Materials
Digital Media
Transport
Construction
All small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the West Midlands area are eligible to apply for an Innovation Voucher.
Ineligible Activities include
- Achieving compliance with statutory regulations or legislation
Intellectual property protection
Standard training courses
Software purchases
Equipment purchases
Aid that would promote / subsidise the cost of exports
Internships for students of knowledge providers
Design and production of advertising materials
Sales and marketing activities this includes standard website design, development and search optimisation (the only exception would be the exploitation of new web technology for the region and/ or industry)
Advertising and promotional activities e.g. design of posters, leaflets etc.
Accreditations
Capital items
Travel costs
Continuation and existing projects with the knowledge providers
Legal advice
Business Link Consultation
All voucher winners are required to have a free consultation with Business Link under the requirements of Solutions for Business.
If you think this might be something that you might like to apply for – and why not, drop me an email to mparry@straightfinance.co.uk
Sc: http://www.straightfinance.co.uk/
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