Networking for Innovation (iNets) supports businesses in turning ideas into products and services by providing access to specialist information and research, linking businesses to new markets and through sharing knowledge and expertise. Below you can read a case study featuring the successful story of one of our clients who received support that enabled them to progress the development of an innovative product:

Osteotec Ltd, based in Christchurch, Dorset, was formed in 1993 to develop, manufacture and distribute quality, innovative solutions to healthcare professionals. Osteotec Ltd offers a range of products and services related to upper and lower limb surgery.

Following Osteotec’s attendance at one of the iNet’s networking events in January 2011, the company applied to the iNet for a grant to support the development of a proof of concept model for an innovative wrist fusion device, with the aim of achieving future commercialisation of the technology. The proof of concept research was undertaken by the University of Strathclyde, whom Osteotec had identified as its most suitable research partner.

The proof of concept research was successful and provided Osteotec with the outcome it needed – namely, the information necessary to progress the development of the device and the company’s strategy towards commercialisation for the UK market.

Dr. Paul Knox, Research & Development / Quality Manager at Osteotec, stated that “The iNet’s support was greatly appreciated and enabled Osteotec to progress the development of an innovative product as part of its business strategy and vision.”

During the period of the research project, Osteotec worked closely with the University of Strathclyde to ensure that the project remained on track and also to develop the technology with as much ‘future proofing’ as possible in order to avoid unnecessary ‘retro fitting’ after completion of the proof of concept research.
Nigel Smith, Biomedical iNet Broker, who visited Osteotec and assisted the company in preparing and proposing its grant application, commented that “It has been a genuine privilege and pleasure to work with Osteotec on this project and I look forward to continuing the relationship as part of the iNet’s business support activities.”

For more information on Osteotec, please visit: www.osteotec.co.uk/

Business Link

We have kept you informed of the changes taking place with the Business Link service. The regional Business Link service has now ceased and new services are available online via the Business Link website.  We would ask you to ensure all references and links to the Business Link service reflect these changes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and explain how Peninsula Enterprise is responding to recent changes, and how we are positioning ourselves for the future.

Over the last year our services have reached and positively affected around 40% of all businesses across Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. We estimate that our direct contribution to growth in this region was £114 million. And with our clients at the heart of everything we do we were delighted with a customer satisfaction rate in excess of 90%.

Peninsula Enterprise remains committed to supporting local businesses and will continue to deliver a high standard of service and quality across all our business support contracts – including Rural Focus, Improve Your Resource Efficiency, International UKTI services, iNets and Social Enterprise.

This is an important time for South West businesses and we remain strongly committed to working with all partners, including LEP’s, to strengthen the business support offer and the economy of the South West. Looking forward, I am confident that Peninsula Enterprise is well placed to play the important role being asked of it and we are passionate about getting this right for those we serve. As a service organisation, enabled by technology, we have a proven record of working effectively with partners to fulfil a range of business support activities and I look forward to continuing to work with you with this in mind. As always, if you have any questions about any of this please feel free to contact me.

Business Link Events Finder

Business Link have just launched a new enhanced Events Finder so business can now search for business related training, workshops, networking, seminars and more from a variety of organisations.

If you are an event organiser and you are interested in promoting your business-related events on this site free you can apply online here

Adam Chambers

CEO, Peninsula Enterprise

Peninsula Enterprise delivers the Improve Your Resource Efficiency (IYRE) service across Devon and Somerset. Below you can read a case study featuring the successful story of Sutton Upholsterers who received support which led to financial, environmental and productivity benefits:

A Langport-based upholstery company that both renovates and supplies office chairs and other items of furniture for companies and individuals across the south of the country has halved the cost of sending waste for commercial recycling this year thanks to the free advice it has received from the “Improve your Resource Efficiency” (IYRE) service, delivered by Peninsula Enterprise.

And now Sutton Upholsterers is set to realise substantial energy savings as well, thanks to an IYRE grant awarded to help the company update the lighting and windows throughout its offices and workshops at Picts Hill.

According to Jim Norman-Brown (Company Director), whose father-in-law Coulter Patton founded the company in 1978, “We’ve grown steadily throughout our history, but obviously reducing the costs of doing business is an excellent way of boosting profits when times are hard. And not only costs – the advice and support we received from the IYRE service is also helping us to cut our carbon emissions while improving the working environment for our people.”

Jim takes his responsibilities to the company’s 14 members of staff very seriously, and works on finding new ways to protect jobs by eliminating any unnecessary expenditure. He was recently extremely impressed by two recent IYRE courses he and new colleague Ben Masters attended, the first of which showed them how to increase the efficiency of the air compressors that power the company’s staple guns and heavy duty sewing machine.

According to IYRE Adviser Liz Rushton, “Carbon Trust figures show that the UK’s average leak rate for an air compressor is between 20% and 50%, while as little as 8% of the total energy supplied to a compressor may actually be converted to useful energy. That’s really costly for a business like Jim’s, so he was able to make immediate savings by applying some simple lessons back at the workshop.”

But it was the second of these workshops, “Heating and Lighting Your Warehouse”, that led the company to agree to a free, in-depth environmental audit of the company’s premises. According to Jim, “It was at this event that I first met Liz and arranged for her to spend time with us and prepare a tailored set of recommendations based on what she found.”

As Liz continues, “We mainly looked at where electricity, gas and water was being used and at what cost to the business, as well as outlining how the company could reduce the costs of waste disposal. In our report, we provided Jim with a set of actions, starting with low-cost ones like contacting a local charity, the Yeovil Scrapstore, who are always on the look-out for clean fabric and foam offcuts; as a result of this and of separating its waste streams, the company has halved its commercial waste output, slashing collection and disposal fees.

“We also recommended some medium-term and cost actions like replacing inefficient lighting, upgrading single-pane windows and starting rainwater harvesting. We were also able to help them apply successfully for a European IYRE grant covering 50% of the costs of the lighting and windows. And we made some longer term and higher cost recommendations, such as the replacement of an inefficient boiler.”

As Jim says, “The new lighting system is now in place, including a motion-sensor system in reception that means the lights only come on when they are needed. Overall, the new system consumes much less energy for reduced running costs. Just as important, it’s more sensitive and efficient than our old system, meaning a better working environment for our people. The new windows are due for installation in the near future, and we’re currently looking at harvesting our own rainwater next year.

“The really great thing about the service is not just that it’s free, although that clearly is a great benefit too. It has not only helped us cut costs and environmental impact, it has always improved the conditions under which our people work. That in turn is set to boost their and the company’s productivity, giving an excellent all-round boost to our financial, environmental and operational performance.”

If you would like to know more about the IYRE service, which is delivered by Peninsula Enterprise across Devon and Somerset, please call 0845 608 2323

Peninsula Enterprise is delighted to celebrate the one year anniversary of Export Cornwall.

We are hosting a special event that combines some great speakers and inspirational stories. There will be an evening buffet, opportunity to network and chance to catch up with friends, old and new. The event will be held on Thursday 24th November at Headland Hotel, Newquay.

We are able to welcome 2 people per company. To find out more information visit the Export Cornwall website.

Order of the day –
4.00pm – Welcome refreshments
4.30pm – Welcome from Export Cornwall chairman, David Bone
The competitive game of export – Lara Morgan, entrepreneur and founder of Pacific Direct Ltd.
How Export Cornwall is helping Cornwall grow – Carleen Kelemen, Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
The trials and tribulations of taking Frugi global – Lucy Jewson, Director, Frugi.
6.00pm – Questions and Answers, followed by networking buffet.

Export Cornwall achievements so far –
• 145 registered members, including SMEs, sponsors and partners
• 110 SMEs have attended a workshop or networking event
• 12 local companies and 7 local sponsors have delivered these workshops and networking events
• 1,385 hours of face-to-face support

We hope you are able to join in our celebrations!

The Department for Business Innovation & Skills have issued their eighth newsletter about the changes to the way the Government provides support to people who want to start and grow a business. Read the newsletter online here.

aims to stimulate thought and provoke reaction to the big issues shaping the world of public services. Ethos is targeted at public sector leaders, politicians, academics and policy specialists debating the future of public services today.

To read the December Ethos Journal e-alert – click here

To read the November Ethos Journal e-alert – click here

To read the October Ethos Journal e-alert – click here

To download a copy of the Ethos Journal – click here

Ethos is published on behalf of Serco Group plc. Serco is an international service company that combines commercial know-how with a deep public service ethos. Ethos presents independent opinions from across the political spectrum, and does not represent the views of Serco.

In a recent article, Peninsula Enterprise CEO Adam Chambers called for South West companies to have greater self-confidence in building overseas trade, particularly in the light of slow domestic growth.  Here we reproduce that article in full.

A report earlier this year from the Ernst & Young ITEM Club highlighted two key factors about the state of UK businesses’ overseas trade.  First it said: “Over the past 30 years net trade has largely been a drag on UK economic growth, with rapid growth in home demand sucking in large amounts of imports, while exports have failed to keep pace.”

It then continued: “However, with the consumer and government sectors likely to be in retrenchment mode for several years, there is now a renewed focus on exports as a key source of growth for the UK economy.” 

UK export sales up

This makes perfect sense in my view, particularly in the light of today’s highly competitive exchange rates and the continuing growth of an acquisitive middle class in the burgeoning ‘BRICs’ countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).  Indeed, another recent report, this time by the British Chambers of Commerce, shows that UK export sales have grown by 3.6% in the last year.

Today, however, despite the presence in the South West region of many fine companies whose fortunes are based on maximising export opportunities, I often come across a kind of nervousness about export that means many small and medium-sized companies have lower aspirations than their capabilities deserve.  They worry about the time and expense that could be involved in setting up and implementing an export strategy, and express concerns about a perceived lack of infrastructure in our part of the world.  As one MD said to me recently, “Just dealing with the rest of England from here already feels like we’re exporting”.

A really exciting offer

In some cases, I sense that the businesses feel “unworthy” of taking that key step into overseas trade, that this should be the preserve of larger businesses, whereas in fact, this is not the case.  I often find on talking to them further that they have a really exciting offer, based around innovative products, ground-breaking intellectual property or highly transferable and commercially attractive services. 

This is frustrating, because as they continue to struggle in the current UK market environment, too many are failing to grasp a realistic and highly effective lifeline that would see them fulfil or exceed their potential.  At the same time, I recognise that many smaller businesses will quite naturally also have smaller export ambitions, and that we should be there to help them grow their export activities in line with their capabilities and aspirations.

But nonetheless I would (and do) say three things to such companies.  First, believe in yourselves and look at the example set by really clever South West companies like Kingsteignton-based OEC International, which has built a European sales network for its adapted 4X4 vehicles, or Yeovil’s AV Optics as it creates a global market for its fibre-optic cable solutions in aircraft.

Taking away the pain

Next, do as so many successful exporters have done and take advantage of the services provided by Government to help you trade internationally.  This is an area that even amid the current cuts is still receiving a great deal of support, in the shape of organisations like UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) which takes all the pain out of trade missions, finding overseas agents, setting up distribution networks and more.

Most important of all, though, is to leverage the technology available to you.  In the 21^st Century, investing in regional IT infrastructure is a really important means of enhancing companies’ opportunities to reach overseas markets, particularly as we move away from the movement of physical goods alone to encompass more intangible services and expertise.   The shift to the latter, making use of fast, high capacity broadband, avoids not only the need for businesses to have access to good transport links but also avoids the ever increasing costs of distribution of product overseas.

This is why the region’s Local Enterprise Partnerships and bodies like the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK are channelling so much investment into delivering Europe’s best super-fast broadband delivery network.  Alongside further investments in our region’s education and transport infrastructure, this in turn will support the South West’s ongoing transformation into a true knowledge economy, where ideas and services are increasingly outweighing the value of purely physical products. 

Falling barriers

Today, in fact, those perceived barriers to export are falling fast.  This affects not just those companies that have goods or services to sell abroad.  By developing local and regional supply chains to support their growth, such companies will in turn spread the benefits of overseas trade more widely throughout the regional economy.  Not just that – as the knowledge economy takes a firm hold on the South West, improved connectivity and educational infrastructure will also help attract inward investment from expansive overseas companies.

But the starting point is here today, in the South West; the commercial potential and opportunities for developing overseas trade have never been greater.