Fylde businesses aim to be catalysts for innovation

Lancaster University is piloting two new place-based business innovation initiatives as part of a fully-funded Innovation Catalyst programme.

It has been designed by Lancaster University Management School and is aimed at dynamic organisations interested in collaborating with academic and industry experts to develop effective long-term solutions around clean growth and secure digitalisation for their industries.

Over a four-month period, the invited business leaders will work on a series of schemes to map out their shared geographical challenges and innovation needs. Student talent will be a key resource to unlocking new ideas, while Innovation Fellows will identify appropriate access to University expertise and facilities to help make the plans a reality.

The project is supported by Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Council, through £448,235 funding from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.

Christopher Lowerson, Community Renewal Fund Programme Manager at Lancaster University, said: “The Innovation Catalyst is unlike any programme we have run before. It is not a content-led workshop concept, but is something more unique.

“We create a stimulating environment for carefully-selected business leaders who have the desire to innovate and be at the forefront of creating an exciting future for their region. We let them drive the conversation, but bring relevant stakeholders and other experts in at key points to inject new knowledge, fresh ideas, stimulate thinking, challenge and share the latest research – which helps facilitate and accelerate innovation.

“When we ran our initial Innovation Catalyst programme in Cumbria, in the space of a few short months we were seeing an ecosystem start to form of businesses, industry experts, academics, and support service providers which, in time, should have the resilience and ability to solve both individual and shared challenges.”

The two latest Innovation Catalyst programmes are designed and delivered by Lancaster University, in partnership with Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council.

The programmes are:

Bringing together key stakeholders to form a taskforce which can identify challenges and accelerate the development of a net carbon zero data centre in Blackpool, to drive economic growth.

Build resilient, sustainable innovation ecosystems in the manufacturing and engineering sectors across Lancashire, particularly focussing on challenges posed by the net carbon zero agenda and cyber security threats.

Councillor Jane Hugo, cabinet member for climate change at Blackpool Council said: “It’s important for Blackpool to explore all the potential and exciting opportunities the emerging digital and renewable sectors can bring to the town, especially in terms of new, long-term skilled employment for our local community.

"It is equally important to recognise and harness the green possibilities wherever we can in any new developing sector, making sustainable choices for the future, that will help us to reduce our carbon footprint and to reach our goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.

“The Innovation Catalyst initiative is an excellent way for like-minded individuals from both public and private sectors to pool their creative resources and ideas in order to find new ways of regeneration for the future and we look forward to seeing the findings.”