Canterbury Christ Church University, alongside key partners across a range of industries and sectors, will be hosting a free, virtual, half-day conference aimed at SME businesses providing them with the opportunity to access information on support, funding, and skills to develop their innovation potential. The conference will be a virtual event held on the 13th October from 9:15 until 15:30.

The GRID Concept

The UK is going through a period of rapid change and transformation and SMEs are at the heart of this. The GRID (Growing Regional Innovation by Design) brings together various stakeholders from across the region to support SME businesses in developing their innovation potential through four key innovation pillars. SME leaders can ‘plug in and power up’ their business with: Digitalisation, Decarbonisation, Advanced Manufacturing, Strategic Leadership.  

The GRID conference will provide delegates the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations and insights and connect with a wider network. Attendees will also gain access to:

• extensive expertise and insight across the partnership on how to position your business to capitalise on the four innovation drivers
• agile methods of working to equip your business with the tools to grow and thrive
• guidance on funding to support business growth and new ways of working post pandemic
• business modelling techniques to meet the challenges of rapid growth in complex times
• information and advice on attracting and growing your workforce through access to skills development, infrastructure and resources
• the many ways that you can work with our University from accessing facilities and equipment to a wealth of knowledge and talent.