HOVIP - Heads of the Valley Innovation Programme

• Sole Traders
• Businesses with less than 20 employees
• Businesses with more than 20 employees
• Social Enterprise Business

Testimonials

"I would recommend the workshop to any time-starved business, particularly in the current climate."

Jacqui Niven, Operations Manager, CODA Business Management Ltd.

Other Benefits

Some of the varied benefits of HOVIP are typified by the comments of two of the Innovation Award winners – a sole trader, less than a year old and one of the longest established pharmaceutical services companies in the UK:

"Winning the Sole Trader category was a huge reward for so much hard work and this public recognition has given me the confidence to drive the business forward and make it an even greater success"

(K. Sheppard, Purple Prose – winner of the Sole Trader category)

"The Innovation Marketplace really is summed up in the name, it is a fantastic forum for people to meet and showcase their success and more importantly share ideas on how to achieve further accomplishments. At the end of the day we can all learn from each other and work together to promote business in the Heads of the Valleys area and clearly demonstrate to the rest of the country how sharing skills and ideas generates fuel for innovation."

(D.Gant, Penn Pharmaceuticals Services Ltd. – winner of the 20+ employees category)

In addition to the individual case studies of benefits other examples include:

• Raising the profile of HOV businesses
• Generating new business
• Signposting other services and businesses

Raising the profile of HOV businesses

• All 30 exhibitors (new starts to established businesses and organisations) raised their profile at the Awards and Marketplace event that was attended by 125 people.
• Our HOVIP marketing professional produced a practical guide for the Marketplace exhibitors that identified what to do prior to, during and after an exhibition.
• Implementing a 50 action point plan to obtain publicity for all the Heads of the Valleys Innovation Award entrants, winners and sponsors.
• Promoted the HoV Award winners locally (e.g. business magazines), regionally (e.g. Out and Out Living Magazine that has 15,000 monthly copies distributed mainly in South Wales) and UK-wide (e.g. see article a www.nesta.org.uk/innovation-is-turning-heads-in-the-valleys/)

Generating new business

• 25% of the exhibitors won new business within 1 month of the 2008 Awards and Market Place event
• Bandog Media Ltd. (winner of the Best New Business Start-up, RCT Business Club Awards 2008) won competitive tender to film 2007 and 2008 HoV Innovation Award winners and 2008 event.
• 250 person Penn Pharmaceuticals Services Ltd. booked the Valleys Information Technology and Communications Centre six times in 6 six months after HOVIP ran a client-specific workshop for Penn, at the Centre, and introduced Penn HR to ViTCC staff
• Helping scholars grow their businesses e.g. we are currently assisting sole trader, Alexandra Smith Therapies, investigate breaking into the corporate market place as a result of an idea, that arose from the HOVIP workshop Alex attended, to contact Cardiff International Airport.

Signposting other services and businesses

• With the support of the Wales Assembly Government (Steve Jones) HOVIP helped Dischromatics Ltd. obtain £15k grant for a new CD printing machine just before the deadline of the former Technology Exploitation Grant. It is estimated that this will help the business increase turnover by at least 10% in one year.
• Helping to put like minded-businesses in touch with one another e.g. Jane Oliver Collection produces hand made jewellery with a unique magnetic clasp that is easy to use especially for arthritic and / or elderly patients and Alexandra Smith Therapies whose customers include people with arthritis.
• As a result of HOVIP, the Business Eye-led Merthyr Account Managers meeting agreed to provide a ground-breaking opportunity to allow local businesses to present their services and views on business needs to these business support providers.

  Sarah Draper, Royvon Director, was the first person to present to the group. An immediate result was that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council have offered to include Royvon in their new Enterprise DVD. Phil Corke, MD of Design and Manufacture Ltd., is the next business to present to the group.

• Sign-posting relevant services e.g. The Garnsychan Partnership, winners of the Social Enterprise category of the Innovation Awards, highlighted the valuable publicity they previously derived from the Blaenavon-based OutandOutLiving Magazine.

  In addition to now using the services of this publication HOVIP has referred the business to the Heads of the Valleys Regeneration initiative to assist with their communications.