A day-long event for small businesses in Cumbria will aim to help them finance innovation.
The workshop, at Windermere’s Langdale Chase Hotel on January 24, will examine how innovation can add value to companies and their customers.
Organised by the Cumbria Innovations Platform, the event will look at raising investment, grant funding, tax credits and action planning.
“We will be discussing the mechanics of financing a small business’s next big innovation,” said workshop facilitator Mr Frank Allison.
“By the end of the session delegates will have created an action plan for financing their next business innovation, and – it’s hoped – made some new business contacts too.”
Aimed at small and medium sized enterprises in Cumbria, the workshop promises to be fast-paced and interactive, encouraging collaborations between organisations as well as innovative solutions.
It will help small businesses to understand the different forms of funding required to finance innovation, discover the various finance options available, forecast future financial requirements, and create a plan of action for financing the next big – or small idea.
Running the workshop, Mr Allison, the Managing Director of FIS360 Ltd, has a successful track record of supporting the commercialisation of technologies and taking them through to a commercial offering, generating funding and returning revenues to a range of clients (including academic institutions, SMEs and large corporates).
He has spent over 15 years commercialising early stage technology in Europe, North America and the Middle East. He is passionate about working with entrepreneurs to see them and their technologies achieve commercial reality.
“It’s NOT like Dragon’s Den,” said Mr Allison. “We explain the mechanics of investment grant funding and other sources of working capital and the consequences and obligations associated with raising investment.”
Cumbria Innovations Platform aims to help boost economic growth in the county by providing micro, small and medium enterprises with a competitive edge. This platform combines the capabilities of various departments from the universities of Lancaster and Cumbria to provide bespoke business support.
The workshop is open to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Cumbria that meet ERDF eligibility criteria: fewer than 250 FTE employees and turnover less than 50m euros or balance sheet total less than 43m euros. Under ERDF rules certain sectors are excluded, such as retail and haulage.
The event, which is free and includes lunch, runs from 9am till 4pm. To register please see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cumbria-innovations-platform-financing-innovation-workshop-registration-53386077194
For further information, contact Sarah Allison, Cumbria Innovations Platform Project Manager [email protected]
