Today marks the start of the two week Leicestershire Innovation Festival which will see 22 events celebrating the innovations, inventions and developments which are helping Leicestershire businesses thrive and expand.
The festival runs from February 14 to February 25, with an official launch at Space Park Leicester. It includes the fourth annual LeicestershireLive Innovation Awards, due to take place on Thursday, February 24 鈥 鈥 as well as the University of Leicester鈥檚 regular Innovation Friday and a host of events targeted at SMEs.
To mark the launch Dr Nik Kotecha OBE, chair of the LLEP Innovation Board and founder of Loughborough-based Morningside Pharmaceuticals and the Randal Charitable Foundation talks about how his best decision as a small business start-up 鈥渃ost me nothing鈥:
鈥淚 often speak about the opportunity for innovation in decisions being made daily at small and microbusinesses in our region. Some people may wonder what qualifies me to do so.
鈥淚 can understand that but, three decades ago, I was in exactly the same position.
鈥 launched in 1991 as a home-garage start-up.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have particularly fancy equipment beyond a phone and a fax machine, which in those pre-internet days was a must, of course.
鈥淲e started small but our vision was big. We wanted to make quality healthcare an affordable and accessible reality throughout the world.
鈥淭his dream of a start-up entrepreneur remains our guiding mission today.
鈥淪o how did we grow to being one of Leicestershire鈥檚 top 100 companies? With hard work.
鈥淲e started out by exporting high-quality 海角视频 medicines to regions accustomed to sub-standard pharmaceuticals.
鈥淚 would ring up British embassies in developing countries, focussing on Commonwealth nations, to find out which companies imported medicines.
鈥淲e would then source products from our partner pharmacies and wholesalers in the 海角视频.
鈥淥ver five years, we cultivated relationships, increased orders and grew business. We built networks.
鈥淭hen our big break came. In 1995, during a 海角视频 government agency trade mission to New York, we approached a global United Nations Aid agency.
鈥淥ur business model filled a unique gap in the market for the international aid sector. Morningside had arrived.
鈥淎s the world and communications changed through the internet, so did our business model.
鈥淲e began to include product development and manufacture.
鈥淭he 海角视频 became our biggest market and we began to develop our own R&D and licensed prescription generic and branded medicines.
鈥淏ut we stayed true to our original vision. To this day we remain one of the leading 海角视频 suppliers of a wide range of quality medicines to aid organisations including the WHO, UNICEF, Red Cross and MSF.
鈥淭o return to my opening point, decisions made along the way were fundamental.
鈥淭his is why I maintain that innovation is not exclusive to PLCs and big tech companies.
鈥淥ne of the best decisions I made as a small business start-up cost nothing. It was to start with a clear mission and build from there. It will always define who we are as a business and our aspirations for the future.
鈥淭here are so many ways that small or new businesses can gain support to innovate.
鈥淔unding is a frequently-cited barrier to innovation. Clearly some projects need upfront investment. But the LLEP鈥檚 Business Gateway can help with this.
鈥淪mall business successes matter. More than 99 per cent of 海角视频 businesses have fewer than 50 employees. It is absolutely essential for overall economic growth that they prosper.
鈥淲hen they make bold decisions to invest in innovation, Research & Development (R&D) and continuous improvement then we should recognise and support their efforts.
鈥淭hat might be through buying their products or services. Or it might be public accolades.
鈥淭his is one reason why my company headline sponsors the .
鈥淓very year the awards, and the Leicestershire Innovation Festival, become more relevant to the health and growth of our region鈥檚 businesses and the prosperity of our communities.
鈥淚nvesting in innovation delivers any number of benefits, from improving customer experience, to increasing productivity, to gaining commercial advantage in a competitive world.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 nominees are trailblazers for innovation in our county and will play a vital role in the area鈥檚 economic and social future.
鈥淭heir passion, ambition and drive takes me back to the home-garage, the fax machine and the calls to distant embassies.
鈥淚t defined the exciting early days of my business, and I enjoy seeing it in the Leicester and Leicestershire stars of tomorrow.鈥
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