Warwickshire businesses at the forefront of innovation
Businesses in Warwickshire are among the most innovative in the country according to new research.
Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) has been revealed as the highest-placed LEP in the West Midlands, ranking an impressive 14th nationally, for innovation.
Research by the Enterprise Research Centre, the UK’s leading independent research institute on the drivers behind business growth, revealed that CWLEP has a higher proportion of pioneering businesses creating state-of-the-art goods and services than anywhere else in the region.
Jonathan Browning, chairman of the CWLEP, said the findings had been based on analysis from 14,000 firms across the UK relating to their innovation activity between 2010 and 2012.
“It is the first time the UK has been mapped on innovation geography and the findings show that businesses within the CWLEP area are performing extremely well,” he said. “This report reinforces Coventry and Warwickshire’s growing reputation for innovation and highlights that we are particularly strong at collaborative working and research and design.
“This area has a strong mix of innovative talent in an array of sectors including advanced manufacturing and engineering, digital gaming and the groundbreaking work carried out at the University of Warwick and Coventry University.
“Inward investment remains strong as more companies who are designing their own products or services, or those involved in the supply chain, are moving into the area which is creating clusters of innovative excellence.
“All this helps the CWLEP’s drive to encourage growth, create jobs and boost the economy and shows we are the most innovative place in the West Midlands.”
Professor Stephen Roper, who led the ERC research, said firms’ ability to innovate played an important role in sustaining growth and competitiveness.
He said: “Innovation is strongly linked to growth, exporting and productivity – all areas in which the UK economy needs to improve if we want to boost our international competitiveness.
“The significant variation between different parts of the UK suggests that some localities are succeeding in creating a more innovation-friendly environment than others.”