Ignite Programme

Fire up your profit making potential

ignite is a flexible package of free and grant aided advice and practical help, designed to allow start-up and early stage companies to tap into the resources of UWSP and it's wealth of know-how.

ignite has one aim - to help the owners/managers of innovation-led businesses to grow faster and make more money - now and in the long term.

To access support from ignite you'll need to be:

• A start-up or pre-start business or a small/early stage business
• A knowledge based or innovation-led business with growth potential
• Based in Coventry, Solihull or Warwickshire or parts of Birmingham adjacent to these areas
  (Or be prepared to locate in these areas)
  
  So how could you benefit?
  
  Over an extended period of time, an experienced business mentor will work along side you to plan the development of your business and to pro-actively identify and access resources to support you in driving your business forward.
  
  Just to give you a flavour, in practical terms this could mean:

• Developing an action plan to achieve your business objectives
• Accessing funding
• Refining your marketing strategy or implementing your sales plan
• And, in the case of start-up businesses, providing an operational base to give you credibility in the eyes of customers and suppliers
• Obviously there are many other areas of business where we could support you, but it's firstly a matter of understanding the nature of your business, the crucial issues to be tackled and a plan of action to start the ball rolling and then to maintain the tempo.
  
  Frequently asked questions:
  
• Are there any hidden costs? - Support from Advantage West Midlands and UWSP allows much of the programme to be free to you. Certainly, this will cover your mentor's time and other specialist advice from UWSP, but if you'd like more intensive "hands on" support we'd expect you to contribute to our costs, always assuming that we're unable to identify any grant funded schemes.
• Must my business be high-tech? - No! As long as your business is technology related and has growth potential, that's what we are looking for. Many Ignite clients will not be involved in creating new technologies but will be, for example, adapting existing technologies to new markets or making innovative use of existing technologies.
• As a start-up business what will the "Operational Base " provide? - A physical presence at UWSP's main site in Coventry, where you'll have a self-contained furnished office, wireless broadband access to the Internet and use of meeting and conference facilities. More than that, it'll give you the all-important credibility, a key issue when businesses are trying to become established.
• If I want to join - what's the next step? - Inevitably with such an attractive programme as this, there's a strong demand. Our resources are finite and we therefore select those companies who are serious about starting or growing their businesses and are therefore likely to make best use of our resources. If this is you, why not pick up the phone and convince us of your potential and the need for support. If appropriate, we can then meet and discuss how we can work together.
  

Call the team on 024 76323130 or email ignite@uwsp.co.uk

Or for further information please download the Ignite information pack (PDF)

Useful reciprocal links:
www.coventry.gov.uk/aplacetodobusiness
www.minerva.uk.net
www.warwick.ac.uk
www.uce.ac.uk
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/business
www.warwickshire.gov.uk/startquest
www.nb2bc.co.uk
www.businesslinkwm.co.uk

Ignite is financed by the University of Warwick Science Park and Advantage West Midlands