The Manchester College opens Business Innovation Hub to enhance support for employers across Manchester
In their new roles, Ruth Potter and Nico Dhillon, who have joined the College’s newly formed Business Innovation team as Business Innovation Advisor and Business Innovation Co-ordinator, respectively, will support the Greater Manchester Further Education Innovation Project. An initiative that sees the College, alongside other further education institutions in Greater Manchester, become one of 10 Business Innovation Hubs across the region.
The project is funded through The Further Education Innovation Fund, an initiative by Innovate UK and it aims to stimulate local business innovation and amplify the contribution of further education colleges within their local innovation ecosystems.
Ruth explained: “Business innovation refers to the process of creating and implementing new ideas, methods, products or services to improve efficiency, effectiveness and address unmet needs.
“By becoming a Business Innovation, we will further help businesses to think differently about innovation and support them to implement innovative ideas and change.
“It’s also a natural progression of the excellent work that we’ve already done as part of our commitment to delivering curriculums that are co-developed and co-delivered with our industry partners.”
The creation of the Business Innovation Hub at the College will further cement the College as a place where businesses can connect and collaborate. Ruth added: “We envisage that the project will provide the opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and develop new links with businesses, creating exciting opportunities for colleagues and students across our College.”
To facilitate this, the College’s Business Innovation Hub will offer a variety of services, including:
- One-to-one business consultations
- Events and upskilling workshops
- Access to support services within the wider Greater Manchester innovation ecosystem
- Access to funding opportunities and skilled professionals
- Workforce training and development
- Access to facilities and technologies.
You can find out more about the project by visiting the website.
If you wish to talk to someone about how the Business Innovation Hub can support you and your business, please get in touch with the team via businessinnovation@tmc.ac.uk.