QU214 - Innovation 'challenge events' and company-centric innovation support to increase business innovation in key growth industries in GBSLEP - AWARD

The Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership ('the LEP') is seeking proposals from suitable organisations to deliver innovation 'challenge events' and company-centric innovation support as part of a pilot programme, also including small innovation grant awards, to test and demonstrate effective approaches to increasing business innovation in key growth industries. The LEP is particularly interested in bids involving industry bodies/intermediaries able to bring both industry knowledge and contacts.

The pilot programme responds to consultancy findings (Optimat 2018) which identified: • Industry demand for challenge-led events capable of stimulating demand-led innovation projects including via cross-sector engagement and collaboration; • A lack of company-centric innovation support in the GBSLEP area; • Need and demand for small scale innovation grants. The pilot programme therefore seeks to test and demonstrate effective models of industry challenge-based innovation activities, company-centric support and small scale innovation grants.

Evaluation will be an important element of the pilot programme and will seek to identify learning as regards: • barriers to business innovation, particularly SME-led innovation, in key growth industries in the LEP area; • the opportunities and challenges for business-led innovation in key growth industries in the LEP area, such as those arising from emerging digital technologies; • the effectiveness of challenge-led approaches, company-centric support and small scale innovation grants in stimulating and enabling SME-led innovation in key growth industries, for example, by increasing awareness of innovation demand and opportunities in key growth industries, by facilitating opportunities for collaboration either within or across supply chains and/or with research institutions, and/or by reducing barriers to SME's engaging in innovation and/or undertaking innovation projects - either financial barriers or other barriers; the critical success factors for effective approaches and any barriers; and • the actual/potential impact of these approaches on SME productivity, competitiveness, turnover and job creation. The contract will be for a period of 9 months commencing June 2019 until February 2020.

Registration and use of in-tend is free. All correspondence for this procurement process must be via the in-tend correspondence function.

If you are interested in tendering please click on the following link to access the Council's tender Portal:- https://in-tendhost.co.uk/birminghamcc/ and submit your details to register as a bidder. We will send you a log on and password so you can download the quotation. Your completed quotation should be returned by 5pm on 17th May 2019 via the 'in-tend' syste...