South East is a European leader in innovation
The European Regional Innovation Scoreboard highlights companies in the South East of the UK as leaders in self-generated innovation, showing that they are highly effective in growing and developing their offer through innovative working, including business to business collaborations and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
The Scoreboard compares regions for the way they match and grow investment, maintain and grow an environment for innovative products and research, and looks at how innovation is being driven in companies and the impact that it has on the wider economic area. East Sussex hosts a number of innovation centres and a variety of different companies known for their innovation-led success including (and not limited to):
Surrey Nanosystems
Based in Newhaven, the company are the creators of the darkest material known to man, Vantablack, they work with nanotechnology, used in different sectors such as space, optics, consumer and luxury goods, working in stray light reduction, as well as satellite and imaging systems.
Continental
The international car tyre brands research and development team have made their home in Lewes, focused on developing different solutions for future challenges that drivers and manufacturers will be facing including working with new materials and smart technology.
3D Printing Engineering
Coupled with extensive experience, the company uses 3D printing/scanning and CAD services to create solutions for engineering, manufacturing and automotive sector, offering full-service product development from their base in the Sussex Innovation Centre, Falmer.
APG Cash Drawers
An international market leader and supplier of choice to the retail and hospitality sectors, Newhaven’s APG Cash Drawers prides itself at reinventing POS, manufacturing cash drawers and bespoke solutions to keep companies on the cutting edge.
Gunnebo
Establishing their UK headquarters in Maresfield this year, the Swedish safety equipment giant has made a commitment to research and development and increasing their investment, particularly as security systems continually need to be on the cutting edge.
Felcon
Hidden champion within the science community and Newhaven as a premier isolator and specialist equipment, Felcon designs and constructs with multiple applications including and not limited to hospitals, museums and recently, in collaboration with the University of Leicester, a sterile environment to experiment with moon rocks.
MelodyVR
On the forefront of music technology, the virtual reality start-up is going to be launching this year with unique virtual reality musical concerts with the latest and biggest bands, with bases in London, Los Angeles and Hastings.
Philip Johnson of Locate East Sussex comments: “With a concentration of creative companies, a culture of collaboration, support from Brighton and Sussex Universities and choice of locations that are both stimulating and inspiring, East Sussex is fast-building a reputation as a place where innovation happens. We welcome companies in all specialist sectors to consider East Sussex as the place to build the product and services that will secure their success in the future”.
To find out more about the UK's overall innovation, visit Innovate UK's blog.
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Funding
One way of innovate your company there are many local and nationwide funding schemes and initiatives, supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups, and established companies.
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