UK needs more than ‘Dragons’ to truly support innovation

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Issue Date: 14th May 2008

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UK needs more than ‘Dragons’ to truly support innovation

14 May 2008 – The UK lacks the necessary infrastructure to turn innovative ideas into finished products claim British inventors in a survey undertaken by Boots Centre for Innovation.

The survey comes as the Centre celebrates its first year of being ‘open for business’, during which time it has received more than 400 ideas from inventors across the UK.

Respondents, who ranged from established SMEs to lone entrepreneurs, said that funding either took so long to obtain that a company lost its competitive edge, or was simply not available for some types of project, thereby limiting innovation.

All respondents believe that, even if they can obtain funding, innovators also need commercial advice to help them identify the route to market and develop business plans that address everything from production to logistics.

A not-for-profit organisation, Boots Centre for Innovation was set up in 2007 to identify and facilitate the development of pioneering health and beauty products. Its first product is being launched on Boots.com this month and there are a further ten products currently in development.

The majority of respondents believe Boots is unusual among large organisations in being open to new ideas and supporting them from concept to the store. Other organisations, they said, were resistant to ideas developed externally, or it was difficult to identify the right person or team to pitch ideas to.

Managing director of Boots Centre for Innovation Ged O’Shea is not surprised by the survey’s findings.

“The UK has a long tradition of inventors who come up with wonderful ideas which other countries then commercialise,” he says. “Meanwhile large organisations talk about ‘open innovation’ but few seem courageous enough to truly foster it.”

O’Shea continues: “Boots has taken the bold step of embracing open innovation through setting up the Centre and we are finding a wealth of good ideas which offer huge potential benefits to consumers. We also continue to search actively for solutions to the key issues in healthcare and beauty, from diabetes to anti-aging, and we encourage anyone who is developing innovative ideas to contact us.”

More information can be found at www.bootsinnovation.com

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