Yorkshire Forward team up with Lord Stafford for Innovator/10 Awards

11/11/2009

Businesses across the Yorkshire and Humber region are being reminded to submit their applications for this year’s Yorkshire Forward Innovator/10 Awards.

This year’s awards offer the chance of success in four categories, including the newly created Partners in Innovation award. This is being run in association with the prestigious Lord Stafford Awards, which have rewarded knowledge transfer between businesses and universities in the Midlands since 1997.

The four awards – each of which carries a £3,000 cash prize – are aimed at recognising those companies and individuals in Yorkshire and Humber who have embraced innovation and developed, alone or in partnership, new ideas, products, technologies or ways of working in order to improve their business.

The awards are open to all businesses of any size based in, or with a significant presence in, the Yorkshire and Humber region, including third sector organisations, business units of the research community, universities, and public and private sector research organisations.

Jim Farmery, Assistant Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward, commented: “We have many innovative individuals, companies and partnerships in Yorkshire and Humber and these awards are an opportunity for entrants to raise their profile with clients and potential new customers, and demonstrate their commitment to being a leader in their field.

“We are experiencing difficult economic times and it has never been more important to ensure that businesses remain competitive through consistently improving their processes, products and services. These awards demonstrate the benefits of developing new ideas, technologies and ways of working in the region through real and successful examples.”

This new Partners in Innovation award, in association with the Lord Stafford Awards, is aimed at celebrating and rewarding businesses which have collaborated with and used the region’s research community, resulting in the successful development of an innovation with the potential to deliver improved business performance and commercial success. Since its inception, the awards have seen participation from more than 650 organisations and 30 Universities.

Lord Stafford commented: “Since 1998 the Lord Stafford Awards has been working to showcase and celebrate the best of collaboration between universities and businesses, which is a crucial relationship if we are to compete as a nation with the rest of the world.

“Some of the work we have been able to highlight has been nothing short of exceptional and I am delighted that the Awards, having already taken place in the East Midlands and East of England, are now being held in Yorkshire.

“I look forward to seeing how the universities in Yorkshire are playing their part, working with businesses and driving the innovation agenda in the region.”

Other categories include the Innovation in Action Award, which aims to reward and celebrate an innovative new product, process or service developed in Yorkshire and Humber, the Young Innovative Business Award which is aimed at businesses that have shown creativity and entrepreneurial flair in the launch and early growth of a business, and the

Sustainable Innovation Award, which will celebrate outstanding advances by Yorkshire and Humber businesses in environmental sustainability through the development and marketing of innovative products, processes and services.

The closing date for entries for the Innovator/10 Awards is 5pm on Wednesday, 2 December . To apply online, visit www.innovator10.com and fill in the application form. After the first round of judging, three finalists in each category will be announced on 25 January, 2010.

Those finalists will be joined by over 200 of the region’s leading businesses to celebrate the outstanding achievements in Innovation in the Yorkshire and Humber Region at a prestigious black tie event at Leeds City Museum, with guest speaker Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project.

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Dan Murphy, Press Manager on 0113 3949904 or email Daniel.murphy@yorkshire-forward.com