Starting up and scaling up
We heard from the Prime Minister in her speech to the CBI that she wants to turn the UK’s bright start-ups into successful scale-ups by backing them for the long term. 2016 Scale Up Club This week has seen the launch …
Academic innovation can drive economic growth
I was delighted to see the annual Innovate 2016 conference coming to the North last week. It showcased national excellence in key industrial sectors – and included great examples of Northern businesses and universities innovating together. The N8 Research Partnership – …
Increasing economic impact from the research base
Innovate UK is focused on driving business growth – no surprise then that the majority of our funding (~80%) is directed towards companies. The remaining 20%, still a significant sum, goes into the UK research base – providing support to …
We need trust to innovate
The last few months have seen much debate about public trust in experts, or rather a lack of it. So who do you trust to provide you with a solution to your problems? Trust is critical to innovation and a …
Outcomes and connections
Better outcomes Everyone has a different definition for “innovation”. I think of innovation as simply “delivering better outcomes”. It is broad enough in scope to reflect the importance of innovation in enhancing every aspect of our lives, whilst at the …
What's going on in quantum technologies?
Innovate UK and the EPSRC have just announced a £19.5 million funding competition for quantum technologies. But what are quantum technologies, and why are Innovate UK, and the UK government supporting them? What are quantum technologies? Quantum was invented by …
Spending the kids inheritance, what it means for UK companies
The Baby Boomers, who as youngsters invented flower power and the swinging sixties, are the leading edge of a change that will shape the consumer world for the foreseeable future. When they choose to retire, people now mostly in their …
Growing the market for urban solutions
City focus Most of us either live in, work in, or visit cities regularly. They are engines of growth and by 2050, are expected to be home to 70% of the worlds population. With such rapid population growth, our cities …
Drones… what could be the future?
At Innovate UK we have a saying: “We can’t stop thinking about the future”. There is a lot of interest around at the moment relating to drones, from the introduction of a new A-level that teaches about drones, to major …
March of the makers – exports and innovation
‘March of the makers’ was the call to arms by the Chancellor George Osborne in 2011- a rallying cry to get the nation to make more and sell it overseas – for Made in Britain to become as prevalent and …