Festival set to shine light on West Yorkshire’s innovators

Businesses and individuals across West Yorkshire are being given the chance to shine as the West Yorkshire Innovation Festival returns for another year. Taking place from 3 to 7 October 2022, the week-long festival will feature a range of diverse events designed to celebrate and inspire innovation in the region.

These include workshops, talks and interactive sessions delivered by partners of the West Yorkshire Innovation Network including, Innovate UK KTN, Clarion and Lloyds Banking each developed to help attendees uncover the depth of what innovation involves, as well as receive actionable guidance and support on their own innovation.

Organisations in West Yorkshire are also being urged to host their own innovation-themed events throughout the week to shine a light on their efforts. Commenting on the opportunity, Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire said: “Our region is an innovation hotspot boasting the likes of Produmax, MODO25 and Kopva.

“I’m delighted to see the Innovation Festival back and bigger than ever bringing together innovators from across the region. We will celebrate the huge opportunities to innovate here in West Yorkshire and the brilliant businesses that have done so and are now flourishing.”

Mandy Ridyard, financial director at Produmax & chair of Space Hub Yorkshire said: “Innovation is a key driver in economic growth. This is more important than ever in the current climate. I am thrilled to see the innovation festival back for 2022 and look forward to seeing and hearing about the great innovation happening in our region.”

The West Yorkshire Innovation Festival, led by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, is designed to inspire innovation and bring together everything that West Yorkshire has to offer.

It is coordinated by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and supported by multiple partner businesses and organisations, including those part of the wider West Yorkshire Innovation Network.

Organisations in the network include Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Leeds University, 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, Innovate UK, Knowledge Transfer Network, Innovate UK EDGE and Catapult network. Together, these organisations along with others create an ecosystem to provide innovation support to businesses in the region.

The first festival the network organised, held virtually in March 2021, was a huge success, with 21 organisations getting involved to deliver 41 virtual events to over 1,400 attendees.

With this success in mind, this year’s event is predicted to lead to great outcomes for the region, with more businesses accessing the advisory and financial support available to support innovation in 2023.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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