Success story

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Background

Knowledge Connect is designed to assist London’s diverse small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to undertake grant funded collaborative projects with the wider knowledge base.  This includes Universities, Further Education Colleges, RTOs and private sector specialists.

London Development Agency (LDA) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding of £5.4 million is supporting flagship project.

Knowledge Connect is the Innovation Vouchers product of the national Solutions for Business portfolio.

Who was involved?

LDA and ERDF fund this programme and it is delivered by ANGLE plc and Winning Moves Ltd.

What action was taken?

The three year programme aims to work with 2,880 enterprises and provides a combination of inspirational workshops and events, stimulating communications, one to one mentoring, specialist identification and partner search.

It also offers grant support to enable SMEs to identify and create business growth opportunities.

There are two levels of grant support available:

• Mini grants up to £3,000 provided for activities such as initial testing, product or service development or proof of concept; and
• Maxi grants of up to £10,000 (which require 50% match funding) to support the delivery of a wide range of more in depth, collaborative projects.

Every element of this programme is designed to offer participants value and inspiration to help them develop and grow their enterprises. It encourages innovation and creativity, leading to a brighter future for those that take advantage and maximise the benefit of what is on offer.

Impacts and Achievements

A London designer will soon have a new range of handbags on the market after utilising support and advice from a part funded LDA programme, Knowledge Connect. This programme is also part funded by the ERDF.

Marion Ayonote began designing in 1998 and went in to full production with her line of shoes in 2000.

An idea to expand her range to incorporate handbags, coupled with advice to diversify products because of the recession, led Marion to investigate options on how best to proceed in creating a uniquely textiled collection of handbags.

After talking to staff at the London Business School, Marion was put in touch with Knowledge Connect.

Knowledge Connect is designed to help businesses of all kinds tap into and exploit the wealth of expertise held in London’s universities and research centres in order to innovate and become more competitive.

"The type of bags I wanted developed were predominantly vintage, designs with a contemporary twist, the main fabric is Aso-oke, a traditional fabric originally worn by the Yorubas, hand made by local weavers in Nigeria. I visited a couple of factories in the UK to see if they could prototype the designs. But they found the fabric difficult to work with," Marion said.

"That’s when I went to Knowledge Connect, who put me in touch with Prescott & Mackay School of Design. They became my Knowledge Connect partner and together we sought alternative methods to the production process."

Marion's work with her Knowledge Connect partner helped her to win a national award. 

"I received a special recognition award at the British Female Inventors and Innovators Network 2009 Awards in July 2009 for my Icon Bag Series," she said.

"But the biggest reward for me is having my first collection of handbags ready for an Autumn launch.

"I could not have done this without the help of Knowledge Connect and my Knowledge Connect partner. The assistance I received was invaluable. I would strongly recommend Knowledge Connect to any entrepreneur wanting to develop innovative products."

Resources

LDA and ERDF funding of £5.4 million is supporting to fund this flagship project.

Timescale

Assistance was provided to Marion during 2009. (Marion’s project ran for about 11 months during 2009).