What do we mean by innovation, how can your business be more innovative, what difference does an innovative mindset make, what support and funding is available? To answer these questions and more we are working with Innovate UK Business Growth to deliver a programme of free workshops and one-to-one sessions.

Join us for the first free breakfast workshop on Friday 14^th June at 9am at the Technology Centre, Wolverhampton Science Park, WV10 9RU. For more details and to book a place please click here

This event is designed to introduce you to the Innovate UK mission to drive innovation to create growth and boost productivity, their strategic priorities, and the various opportunities they offer to support innovation in businesses of all sizes. You will learn about their funding programmes, how they facilitate collaboration between business and academia, and the resources available to help your ideas reach their full potential. A great opportunity to hear first hand about the support available, connect with Innovate UK advisors, and network with colleagues.

We appreciate some businesses do not see themselves as innovative, and/or would not consider themselves eligible for Innovate UK support. That may be the case for some, but you would be surprised at the range and types of business that have received support.  If you are wondering whether innovate UK Business Growth Support would be relevant to you why not take a look through some of their case studies here

The Steamhouse in Aston is hosting a series of one-day, interactive Innovation Methods and Mindsets Short Courses. There are still some places available on the courses, but we encourage you to book your place as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. The third session of the series is Solve Business Problems with Creativity with the Creative Director of Creative Switch, Kath Simpson. Kath has worked with organisations like Imperial College London, Wellcome Collection, Design Council, Rewilding Britain and Family Action, to name a few. This short course is for anyone who wants to tap into their creative potential to help drive innovation in their organisation. Whether you’re a manager looking to foster a more creative team culture, an entrepreneur seeking to develop new products or services, or an individual who wants to bring more creativity to their work and life, this course is designed for you. For more details and to book a place please click here

Made Smarter has launched a £1.9 million digital adoption push to drive growth in West Midlands manufacturing and engineering small and medium businesses and help them boost productivity. digital experts will provide advice to manufacturing businesses on how to switch to advanced and automated technologies while working to improve employees’ overall digital skills.

With up to 30 hours of prescriptive learning, you’ll be able to transform your business, enhance value creation, create efficiencies and engage your employees to deliver better results. With the Made Smarter leadership skills training, they'll help you discover new and innovative ways of developing and managing your people.

For further information please click here

The Net Zero Innovation Programme has recently been launched by the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). WMG will bring the delivery of their September programme to Wolverhampton.

This free programme offers a cohort-based approach to understanding what net zero would mean and look like for your business. It includes a net zero readiness assessment, a net zero roadmap, collaboration events, a best practice visit, a technical innovation project, and the opportunity to apply for grant funding toward an energy efficiency project (this can be additional to the council's Net Zero grant funding).

Underpinning this is an understanding that key to business engagement in the Net Zero journey is helping manufacturing SMEs understand the commercial benefits of decarbonising the workplace. Sustainability is important to businesses but the ultimate drivers for this kind of change are reducing costs, boosting reputation and meeting customers’ growing requirements for a greener supply chain.

For more detail and to register your interest please email Jonathan.Rackley@warwick.ac.uk    and business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk

with the heading Net Zero Innovation Programme - Wolverhampton cohort

Inspired by Taiichi Ohnos’ “5 Whys”, this free tool helps you to quickly get to the root causes of problems. By the end, you’ll have sorted between symptoms of the problem (which are often mistaken for the problem itself) and have a clearer picture of what you need to address! This tool is available for free as part of Steamhouse's growing Innovation Toolbox, full of handy interactive resources to help you innovate to solve problems! Also check out the Assumption Dump tool which you should always try before starting any project!

If you have a specific business challenge you’d like help with, or need expert advice and guidance on a business topic, the University of Wolverhampton can help you innovate via consultancy with one of their leading academics. Their academics are practitioners with experience of business, and are proud to identify those at the forefront of the latest developments. This means they are keen to work with you. Your knowledge, plus their expertise, will allow you to innovate and make a noticeable difference to the competitiveness of your business. For more information please click here

If you have any queries relating to business support, growing your business, or some of the challenges you are facing then please call the council's Business Support helpline on 01902 555572 or complete the online enquiry form here

To support your business enquiry and growth our team is more than happy to carry out a free business diagnostic - to ensure we can connect you quickly to the right support.