Member Article

Exclusive Interview: Michael Holroyd on eco-innovation in the North West

Michael Holroyd is managing director at Inventya Limited and business development manager on the Centre for Global Eco-innovation programme.

The Centre for Global Eco-Innovation is a collaboration between Lancaster University, the University of Liverpool and international management consultancy, Inventya.

The virtual centre offers commercialisation and R&D support to North West businesses with eco-innovative products, services or processes.

The project is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013 and launched in 2012.

Over a three year period, plans to help 285 businesses.

Its main focus is eco-innovation - defined as helping to develop new and to enhance existing products and services which will, by nature of their design, manufacture, raw materials or use, ultimately contribute towards the reduction of greenhouse gases or the more efficient use of natural resources.

Michael Holroyd spoke exclusively to Bdaily about the importance of eco-innovation and the impact it has had.

He said: “A lot of our work is about encouraging companies to rethink.

“The first part of the programme was an opportunity for 50 companies to receive support via the placing of PhD students, providing the businesses with R&D support.

“Access to the universities’ resources has been vital to the project

“The PhD students were the key to the knowledge transfer, organisational help and help with methodologies.

“The final phase of the project is hopefully job creation and a positive output for the environment.

“The project has lead to reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, decreasing water usage and increased recycling in companies.

“The biggest message this project has is that businesses can succeed in eco-innovation.

“300 businesses have gone from having a project developed to having a revenue generating eco-product and this has also helped us push the environmental agenda with key stakeholders such as LEPs and trade organisations.

“It’s win-win, we have made a positive contribution, businesses have prospered and grown in revenue and employment and there has been a positive contribution to the environment.

“The majority of companies are interested in environmental issues but it is not at the top of their agendas especially when we have been coming out of a recession.

“Companies have had to consider what they had to do versus what they would like to do.

“They do want to support the environment and what we have done is show that there are simple straightforward ways to change the way business is done.”

To date approximately 190 companies have received assistance from the project with many more currently in the pipeline.

Before September 2015 the centre aims to have assisted 285 companies in the North West of England.

Around 50 of these companies have received an intensive three year funded R&D programme in collaboration with a PhD student from either Lancaster University or the University of Liverpool.

The other companies have received assistance through business mentoring and commercialisation and/or shorter research collaborations lasting between 3-12 months.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .