Eco innovators tap into £1m
THE Centre for Global Eco-Innovation (CGE) says it has helped small and medium-sized businesses in the region tap into nearly £1m to develop innovative ideas.
The centre is a collaboration between Lancaster University, the University of Liverpool and international management consultancy Inventya and is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
Set up last year, it has helped 10 manufacturing businesses apply for £973,131 from the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Materials and Manufacturing Launchpad.
The competition centred around high-tech manufacturing SMEs based at Sci-Tech Daresbury, the science and innovation campus and the Runcorn Heath Business and Technical Park. Winners now have six months to court other investors to gain matching funding to enable them to conduct R&D projects.
One of the winning bids was South Warrington-based Trametox which has developed radiation detectors that identify nuclear materials being smuggled into a country on shipping containers.
Jeff Boardman, chief technology officer at Trametox, said: “Coming from a science and engineering background myself, the help from CGE and Inventya was incredibly valuable and included assisting us through two in depth stages of a video presentation and then a detailed submission. The Launchpad will now act as a springboard to help us raise the rest of the money required for the successful completition of the project.”
CGE is now calling for eco-innovative SMEs to come forward to link up with university students on collaborative R&D projects lasting between three and six months. The centre is looking for live project opportunities for 50 graduate students from the two world-ranking universities with SMEs in sectors spanning pharmaceuticals, bioscience, agriculture, environmental engineering and transport.
Tom Wright, project manager at the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, said: “Our aim at the centre is to help drive forward improvements in green technology and services throughout the North West as part of the government’s overall bid to reduce carbon emissions. We want to make SMEs aware of the support that is out there to help them develop eco-innovative products. Depending on the needs of the individual businesses, this could take the form of funding or university-business collaboration.”
Other winners include: Manchester-based Advanced Laser Technology; LPW Technology of Lymm; ESP Technology and GEM Nutrition, both of Daresbury.
