What is Innovation Bridge?
Innovation Bridge is a new three-year £3.896 million economic development project, running until summer 2019, offering:
- free support to help your business innovate and grow
- access to specialist university expertise and grants with University of Bedfordshire, Anglia Ruskin University and University of Suffolk
- a grant programme to support the implementation of a growth plan
Who can Innovation Bridge help?
- individuals or start-up and existing businesses with fewer than 250 employees
- businesses looking to grow and develop a new product or service with experts at the cutting edge of research
- businesses based in:
- Aylesbury Vale
- Bedfordshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cherwell District
- Milton Keynes
- Norfolk
- North Hertfordshire
- Northamptonshire
- Peterborough
- Rutland
- Suffolk
- South Holland
- South Kesteven
- Uttlesford District
- covered by 3 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs):
How can Innovation Bridge help?
There is an initial free business review and then the support of a university academic to develop an innovation action plan to support the growth of the business. Following the action plan, there is a grant programme which can offer up to 30% of the costs of the implementation of elements of the plan.
What will be available?
- an initial assessment, either face-to-face or over the phone
- specialist academic support and expertise to develop an action plan for developing a new product or service
- access to a grant programme (between £1,000 and £15,000), covering up to 30% of the investment
Get in touch
To find out more please contact the team:
Email: engage@uos.ac.uk
Telephone: 01473 338424
Sign Up
Book a consultation with a business expert
What can I expect next?
- we will check that you are eligible for the project and be back in touch with you
- a business adviser from either University of Bedfordshire, Anglia Ruskin University and University of Suffolk will review your business needs with you and agree what type of support you need to grow and how the university could best help
- based on this, a specialist will be appointed to work with you to develop your plans and can assist you to apply for a grant to implement the plan
Additional information
Innovation Bridge is partly financed by £1.948 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs.
European regional development funding information from GOV.UK
