Edge Hill helps 100th business to scale-up

The 100th Lancashire SME has passed though Edge Hill University's scale-up programme.

Delivered through the university's Productivity and Innovation Centre, the Innovation Sprint Programme is a scale-up initiative that supports companies to increase competitiveness and build resilience in their business model.

Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, has been available to Lancashire SMEs for the past three years and was recently extended until 2023.

Now in its second iteration, the programme will continue to support SMEs who have the potential to scale-up, with 50 hours of intense online workshops, facilitated by business and academic experts. The new phase will include additional elements of support including productivity, workforce development and technology adoption.

The 100 SMEs have engaged in Innovation Sprint Programme to date have come from a wide range of sectors including manufacturing, IT & digital, business and financial services, hospitality & catering and health sector. On average, the growth achieved has been 29 per cent, and over 40 new products or services have been implemented.

The milestone company is Empty Plates, a catering provider based in West Lancashire. The company invested in and developed a new software tool, Torque Info Ltd, to support and simplify the complex requirement of filling staff vacancies, often at short notice.

Co-owners Gary and Anne sought the opportunity to access the Innovation Sprint Programme to work with business experts who could help them to structure a plan to complete the development of Torque Info Ltd, as well as building a launch strategy for the service.

Anne said: "The Innovation Sprint Programme has been a fabulous support, eye opener and thought-provoking process to put our new venture on track. The programme provides constructive criticism from the experts to help you unpick and address your challenges. We now have a plan in place that will drive our vision into the future."

Steve McArdle, business development coordinator at the PIC, facilitated the digital workshops and worked with Empty Plates to help them define their business strategy.

Steve said: "Reaching the milestone of supporting 100 SMEs is a fantastic achievement for our team and for the university. The PIC has evolved into a digitally delivered programme which means flexibility for participants and has further increased the impact we have for companies."

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