Funding helps recovery

FUNDING of £1.6 million is helping businesses in Oldham find new ways to stand out from competitors and grow their market share in preparation for economic recovery.

Business Link North-West has secured the money from the European Regional Development Fund to expand its innovation service.

The innovation team is now approaching full strength and can work with more companies in the region.

Specialist innovation advisers work with companies looking for support with product, service, process or cultural innovation to examine ways in which the business could develop through change.

This diagnostic exercise splits innovation into 10 distinct categories and explores each one in detail, identifying potential growth drivers and areas that could benefit from further attention.

These areas include strategic innovation, developing ideas, financing innovation, intellectual property and supply chain innovation.

All the advisers have a strong understanding of each area of innovation alongside the business sector in which they specialise. All have in-depth specialisms in topics such as IT, telecommunications, intellectual property, energy and environmental processes and advanced engineering.

John Chisholm, innovation manager at Business Link Northwest says: “The ERDF funding has enabled us to strengthen and grow the service. Now we have a highly skilled and well-rounded team of 12 advisers who can deliver innovation on a larger scale. The region has a strong track record in creativity and new ideas and approaches.

“It’s our job to help businesses access this talent to thrive.”