Somerset Business Awards 2012: Partnerships to unlock success (From Somerset County Gazette)

Somerset Business Awards 2012: Partnerships to unlock success

8:34am Tuesday 10th July 2012 in Business

SUCCESSFUL partnerships can be the key to unlocking business success says one this year’s Somerset Business Awards sponsors.

The awards are run by Somerset Chamber of Commerce and are open to companies of all types and sizes in the county - for details and to apply on-line, click here by the closing date of August 31.

They are also supported by Newsquest Somerset, publisher of this website.

The Open Innovation project, made up of Plymouth University, Somerset County Council, Somerset Chamber of Commerce and Southwest One, is the sponsor of the Collaborative Innovation Award.

Roger Hall of Plymouth University, said: “Sponsoring this award enables us to showcase best practice in Somerset and spread the message about the benefits of business collaboration. Locally, our project aims to increase innovation levels in Somerset in order to improve the economic prosperity of the county.

“We will be looking for two or more companies collaborating innovatively and demonstrating mutual benefits, including factors such as one or more of the firms introducing innovation to their business, a new or different way of working, an organisation with increased revenue or reduced costs thanks to collaboration, or a business that can provide evidence of where collaboration is a key part of how the organisation will operate in the future.”

Last year the award was won by Futures for Somerset, BAM Construction and the Bridgwater Education Trust. They are working together to lead a pioneering programme to achieve positive outcomes for young people and communities across the town of Bridgwater, which is great! We have very high expectations for this year!”

The project is part funded by the North West Europe strand of Interreg IVb, a form of European assistance.