Meet the Sussex Pioneers

Sussex Innovation has been supporting some of the region’s most innovative companies for more than 25 years. Now the organisation has launched a new premium TV series, speaking to business owners and experts about how innovation happens and why it’s of critical importance to any small business. By Nigel Lambe, Chief Executive, Sussex Innovation

Last year, we made our bid to the UK Community Renewal Fund to support the East Sussex business community in its recovery from the turbulence of the past few years. Rather than simply repackaging the work that we already do with innovative start-ups, we wanted to make sure that we designed a programme for the whole business community. It’s exciting working with new technology and radical ideas, but we also know that there are hundreds of great small businesses across the county who have very different needs.

We hear a similar story every day, whether it’s from small manufacturers, law firms, retailers or hospitality businesses. SMEs recognise that they need to try new ideas, develop new processes and launch new products in order to stay ahead of the competition. In most cases, however, there are two major barriers – they’re not confident with how to go about it, and they don’t have the time to get started.

With this in mind, we got to work making our Sussex Pioneers series. We wanted to create something that would demystify innovation, offer a training toolkit that would cover all the fundamentals, and be available to anyone, whenever they want to access it.

I’m proud to say that it has now launched; eight films packed with inspiring stories of local innovators, insightful conversations with experts, and impactful ideas to bring into your business. The series is supported with a forum to connect and collaborate with other companies, bitesize innovation canvases to keep track of your plans and weekly live Q&A panels. And it’s completely free – visit sinc.mylearnworlds.com to get started!

❛❛ We recognised that there were lots of inefficiencies that we found frustrating, but had never thought to address ourselves. It came to a point where we thought ‘let’s do something about this’, so we decided to create our initial product ❜❜ Dr Rosie Scott, Co-Founder, Definition Health