Services to support innovation
Practical help for businesses that want to develop, test and bring new products and processes to market.
What the services cover
Business innovation depends on more than good ideas. It needs time, technical know-how, access to equipment and a clear route from prototype to customer. The services described on this site are designed to supply those things to businesses in the East Midlands.
Nottingham Trent University, the University of Derby and the University of Nottingham work together to provide this support. The programme is backed by EU funding, which helps keep access open to small and medium-sized enterprises that might otherwise find research partnerships out of reach.
Support is delivered through advice, shared facilities, research collaboration and skills development.
Who the services are for
Support is aimed at businesses at different stages of development, from a first idea to an established product line.
Early-stage ventures
Teams that have an idea but have not yet tested it with customers can use advice sessions to check assumptions, define a first version and plan the next steps.
Established manufacturers and service firms
Companies with working operations often need help adopting new materials, digital tools or cleaner processes. Support can focus on one specific problem and its measurable outcome.
How support is delivered
Most projects follow the same sequence, although the length of each stage depends on the business and the question being addressed.
Stage 1
Initial discussion
A short conversation to understand the business, the innovation in question and the support that would be most useful.
Stage 2
Scoping and matching
The team agrees a clear brief and matches the business with the university expertise or facilities that fit the task.
Stage 3
Working project
Research, testing or development takes place, with regular reviews so that findings can shape the next decision.
Stage 4
Review and next steps
The outcomes are written up, and the business decides whether to continue, scale up or move to a different form of support.
Areas of help
Innovation management
Support for planning innovation, setting priorities and organising teams so that new ideas move forward rather than stalling. Read more on the innovation management page.
Research expertise
Access to academic staff with subject knowledge across engineering, digital technology, materials and business. Details are on the expertise page.
Facilities and equipment
Use of laboratories, workshops and testing spaces that small firms rarely own. See the facilities page for an overview.
Skills and graduate support
Placements and short projects that bring graduate skills into a business for a defined piece of work. Find out more on the graduate placements page.
Working spaces and projects
What to prepare
A short written description of the innovation, the problem it addresses and the people who will work on it is usually enough to start a conversation.
- A brief description of your business and its current products or services
- The innovation you want to expl