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Posted: Mon, August 18, 2003
Helping Wales help itselfBy Basheera KhanThe effects of a new type of partnership are rippling through a number of sectors within Welsh industry. Companies which were once eager to innovate but were frustrated by a lack of funding or expertise are now riding high on this wave of opportunity, predicting a £16 million increase in turnover, in addition to the creation of over 350 new jobs, and the safeguarding of 622 more.  The key to their success lies with the relatively small core team that comprises
Help Wales. Headed up by Kate Richards, the Help Wales
scheme has focused on creating links between industry and academia with an absolute minimum of fuss for the companies involved. Drawing on the expertise of all 13 Welsh higher education
institutions, the project seeks to place the highest level of knowledge and support at the fingertips of businesses which would like to carry out research and development (R&D) projects with a
university. The project is led by the University of Glamorgan and offers grants of up to 50%. Help Wales is a £3.9 million project part financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Originally launched in September 1998, the programme has developed over 1000 new links between higher education institutions (HEIs) and small businesses. Welsh HEIs are able to design and develop innovative new products, processes and systems. The Help Wales goal is to enable clients to turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether launching first-to-market products, or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies. It draws on the expertise of over 500 consultants across Wales, and offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including healthcare, telecommunications, industrial and consumer products, automotive and aerospace. The success of the programme is largely due to its simplicity for all involved and the speed with which the funding can be accessed. The process begins when a company approaches Help Wales with a specific need, such as a feasibility study for a new product/service or rapid prototyping. Within two days, Help Wales will link the company with the most appropriate university and funding is secured within a further five days. Richards comments, "Although these timelines are our ideal targets - two days to identify a HEI partner, and a further five days for funding - we often turn around applications in half that time." "We're incredibly flexible because we have access to the University of Glamorgan's European and External Resources Office, which means that if we need to consult someone over a grant application, it can be done almost immediately." It's no accident that things have worked out that way, Richards says. Flexibility is precisely what SMEs need when approaching R&D grants, and it's this key attribute of her project which makes it both unique and effective. In addition, she says, the simplicity of the process also means that Help Wales is particularly popular with micro-businesses. As to the types of company which seek assistance through Help Wales, Richards says that while the areas of expertise include manufacturing process innovation, materials testing and analysis, and business and HR management, the trend thus far has been primarily in the areas of product design and prototyping, environmental management and ICT and Internet services. Richards is particularly proud of the scheme's ability to help companies with a diverse range of needs. "One of our recent projects assisted a Blackwood-based micro-business called Danlite, which developed a dual direction bicycle light that can be attached to the handle-bars and removed when the bicycle is left. The product appeared on the Discovery Channel last year, and with the help of UWIC and the University of Glamorgan, the company is in the planning process to manufacture and retail the lights later this year." "There's also Allan Shiers, a craftsman who makes Celtic and concert harps by hand. He is a sole trader, and as the harp making process is so labour intensive, it can take him up to a year to complete some harps. Allan realised there was a demand for Welsh harps, and is being assisted by the Manufacturing and Engineering Centre at Cardiff, which is developing methods to automate some parts of the manual process." "Allan is now hoping to expand and take on a small workforce in a part of Ceredigion that normally sees people leaving in search of jobs - this illustrates the potential for companies that use Help Wales' services to assist in local economic regeneration," Richards comments. Richards is also pleased with the changing perceptions in industry regarding universities and other HEIs. "Once, universities were perceived as Ivory Tower iInstitutions, that were inward looking with little or nothing to offer the business world. Now innovative companies throughout Wales are turning to universities in their droves for advice and support and often developing long-term relationship with these research institutions." ContactsHelp WalesTel: 01443 482 751 E-mail: helpwales@glam.ac.uk Web: http://www.helpwales.co.uk |
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