Looking beyond the pandemic to the economic recovery, embracing change, thinking differently and seeking support to adapt will be fundamental to businesses in the Leeds City Region becoming more efficient, productive, and resilient.

Future economic growth will depend on businesses’ ability to approach challenges with an innovative mindset, adapt to the changing environment and make the most of opportunities at home and abroad.

Collaboration is a catalyst for innovation and creativity, and now more than ever, businesses are encouraged to collaborate to create new ideas and a positive change. There is a range of expertise, support, and funding available from local research organisations, universities, advisory services, and private sector organisations to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) innovate, whether it’s a new product, process, or service.

Through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Business Support Service, a team of Innovation Growth Managers work with businesses to understand their needs, navigate opportunities, and find tailored solutions, making support more accessible.

Leeds-based digital marketing agency Modo25 worked with the LEP to assess their needs and secured funding to support the first phase of its BOSCO™ platform, a digital marketing prediction index.

Abi Liddle, chief operating officer at Modo25, said: “We were looking for help, and although we were clear on what we wanted to do, we had to find new ways to make it happen through external support.

“We needed to find the best experts to implement our thinking; working with the LEP’s innovation team allowed us to move far quicker, which we would not have been able to do without the additional support.”

Businesses will get the opportunity to find out more about the support available to innovate and build connections at the first West US Innovation Festival, created by the West US Innovation Network, and coordinated by the LEP in partnership with the West US Combined Authority.

Running from 15-19 March, the festival brings together businesses, expertise, resources, and support programmes for a week of free virtual events including, workshops, masterclasses, and business interviews.

The festival aims to help SMEs, entrepreneurs, and starts-ups to network, build connections and find support to develop their innovations and bring new products and services to market.

The festival will begin with a roundtable discussion on the future of innovation, chaired by Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of the LEP, and the NP11 group of Northern Local enterprise partnerships, followed by a range of events throughout the week to showcase the breadth of innovation support businesses can access.

For more information on how your business could benefit from working with the LEP Business Support Service, visit the-lep.com/innovation