Mid Wales Business Community Comes Together for Innovation Event
In an event titled ‘Making Time for Innovation: Prioritising R&D for Success’, Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus hosted delegates on 9th February for its first business support event of the year.
Based on feedback from previous attendees the Campus brought together several experts in the innovation and research and development fields to present on how to cultivate an innovative mindset, R&D tax credits available to companies that pursue specific research and development activity and several public sector initiatives across Wales that can support businesses to succeed in the challenging area of innovation and speculative R&D.
Following a networking lunch, delegates heard from four speakers: Bruce Stanley, Embody Ltd; Simon Renault, Innovation Point (Newport); Ian Mitchell, Mitchell Meredith Accountants; and Chris Probert, Innovation Specialist at the Welsh Government. The event was brought to a close with coffee and breakout sessions, where delegates could speak to any of the presenters one-to-one for a chance to ask questions about their specific needs.
Ben Jones, Marketing and Partnerships Manager at Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus said: “There was a great mix of familiar and new faces at the event, which was encouraging to see. There is a clear demand for events that help businesses to take the next steps to grow and prosper in Mid Wales, and we’re delighted to be able to help facilitate that.”
Bruce Stanley, from innovation consultancy Embody Ltd, said: “For me, innovating is the most exciting activity a business can undertake and I’m really encouraged to see so much promise in Mid Wales. The businesses represented at these events are diverse and the experience and openness of their leaders make coming together really valuable – add to that the vision for the future around the Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus and the next few years are going to make this one of the most significant entrepreneurial clusters in the UK.”
Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus will offer a range of high quality facilities to support innovation, enabling commercial enterprises to grow, prosper and drive economic growth in the food and drink, bioprocessing and biotechnology sectors throughout Wales and beyond. Facilities will include an analytical science centre, a pilot-scale bioprocessing and biorefining facility, and a food-grade future food centre. In addition, available now on the Campus are several rentable office spaces of varying sizes and at various tenancy packages, for a community of likeminded innovators and entrepreneurs.
The ambitious £40.5M Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus development is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, through the Welsh Government; by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and by Aberystwyth University.
