Innovators in the East Midlands learn how to profit from design

On 14th November, over 100 delegates came to learn more about how innovative companies use design to grow their business.

That‚Äôs not only producing beautiful products, it’s using design principles at every stage, especially designing around what your customer wants, prototyping and learning from the experience. Profiting by Design was organised by Innovate UK and Nottingham Trent University in partnership with D2N2 Growth Hub, KTN, EEN and the universities of Nottingham and Derby.

The aim of the event was to inspire local businesses to innovate by highlighting the help available through Innovate UK grants and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships alongside expert support offered by local universities and agencies.

Established local companies A.Burnett and Bloc Digital talked about how they have used expert knowledge available in local universities to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Start-ups INCUS Performance and Halalivery spoke about how Innovate UK has supported their growth ambitions. While Paul Mason, Director of Open and Commercialisation, Innovate UK described his role in connecting innovators with like-minded businesses as well as funders. He also highlighted how Innovate UK sees design as central to its work with last year’s publication of its Design Strategy.

Julian Bowrey, Innovate UK Regional Manager, said ‘We all know that the East Midlands has many successful businesses and excellent universities. I’m sure today’s inspirational speakers will encourage even more innovators. And they can be assured that there are plenty of local sources of support to help them on their journey.”

Coming up:

Innovate UK in the East of England – 22 January 2019

Innovate UK in the South – 30 January 2019

Watch the highlights below.