Groundswell Innovation

Good news for companies based in Westmorland & Furness! There is still time to apply for 1 of 4 fully-funded places, to gain innovation support for your business with Groundswell Innovation, courtesy of Enterprising Cumbria and Westmorland and Furness Council. Our process helps you consider what innovation will make you money right now, and how you can make the most of emerging opportunities like green growth. To find out more, contact [email protected]

The data is clear: place-based innovation has proven ROI. The UK workforce is shifting: one in three people leave school without five good GCSEs, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds fall behind at twice the rate, and by 2035, over-65s will increase by 28% while growth in the working-age population stalls. The business case for looking at talent differently is evident: 109% business growth for one SME that incorporated community investment into their business model. £13.09M in direct economic impact delivered back into the community by a local charity that hired based on lived experience and redesigned recruitment to focus on skills. 7.2% year-on-year growth, outperforming the sector, achieved by a hospitality brand that embedded social mobility into recruitment, onboarding, and leadership practices. The result? Higher retention among workers who face barriers to employment, lower attrition, and 20% savings on recruitment costs. Smart business strategy backed by real data. Place-based innovation delivers measurable returns. For a full copy of our report, email [email protected] See how other organisations have revised their local talent strategy to build better outcomes. #PlaceBasedInnovation #SkillsGap #BusinessResults #SocialMobility

The UK talent landscape is evolving in ways that create clear opportunities for SMEs willing to act now. By 2035, we'll see shifts in education outcomes, workforce demographics, and regional skills distribution. London is projected to reach 71% degree holders, while other regions will sit closer to 29%. For businesses, this creates a strategic opening: companies that invest in building local talent pipelines today will have access to a broader, more loyal workforce tomorrow. Place-based innovation—recruiting locally, mentoring visibly, creating progression pathways—delivers measurable returns. We're seeing it already: 109% growth in 12 months for one company that embedded this approach. Better retention. Stronger community ties. Lower recruitment costs. It's not about solving this alone. It's about recognizing that local investment is good business—and when more companies do it, we collectively build the talent ecosystem we all need. #PlaceBasedInnovation #SkillsGap #TalentStrategy #Lancashire

Great to have Paul Addison of Great British Energy in the RedCAT Network today in #Lancashire. The room is full of innovators working on the #commercialisation of low carbon technology, immediately applicable to what the world needs right now.

Interesting to note that the stats published last week by WIPO – World Intellectual Property Organisation – back up today’s warning headlines about an AI investment bubble about to burst.    According to a recent Economist article on the subject, the value of Venture Capital investment deals is growing year on year, but the number and geographical spread of deals has fallen for the third year running. Where is recent investment focused? AI.    We’ve been here before – startups projecting exponential returns was a commonplace event as internet companies became ‘a thing’. The 1990s promise of digitisation is still in full delivery mode, decades later, but the initial investment phase was a bumpy ride. The speed of technology may be fast, but the financial returns can remain on the horizon for a generation.    Meanwhile, there is innovation at your feet, that will bring revenue next year and the year after. Do you know what that is yet?    Book a call with our team to find out. 

As an agency, Groundswell Innovation helps clients commercialise new ideas and activate everyday innovation.   That calls for structure and #process. But without #creativity, process will churn out obvious answers. Without #empathy-led design thinking, teams will create products that reference competitor strategy more than they do the needs of customers.    That’s why we're really interested to understand how hyper-creative environments like #jazz bands operate. As a team structure of talented specialists, they're highly effective, as well as highly creative.    The Economist put out a podcast recently, about what companies can learn from jazz about dealing with crisis. Pretty interesting stuff. There are broader learnings about enabling creative problem solving in a business context:   💥 Creative practice – learning your craft, accepting mistakes as part of that process, being open to new ideas.  💥 Learning from history and building on that in new ways - a jazz 'standard' is rarely the same experience twice. 💥 Trusting the process – putting talented people at work together, and letting the magic happen. 💥 Peer respect – everyone’s talent gets time in the spotlight, everyone can take turns to lead.  💥 Working fluidly with mistakes and problems. When things go wrong in a jazz band, the artists work with the mistake and develop their music in a different way.    In a business context, Jazz happens when you get a mechanical engineer working with a scientist, a designer, a product user. You have to work out a shared language that goes past specialist jargon. Each perspective uncovers different ideas that put the team into flow - uncovering what might be possible, working past what might seem intractable problems.     Which is why it makes absolute sense for Groundswell Innovation to be supporting the very kind of collaborative, cross-disciplinary activity that Lancaster Jazz Festival makes possible.    Come see for yourself – the festival runs from this evening until the end of Sunday in venues all over the city. Full details of this year's festival: https://lnkd.in/ee3_wpb6 Ferg's Imaginary Big Band performing at The Dukes, Lancaster (2022)

Well we did say watch this space.. Huge thanks to Brabners, The Alchemist, Teleplan Forsberg, TP Financial Solutions and Citizens Advice North Lancashire for supporting the development of this case study-led report. We can worry about the current skills gap or we can work to fix the even bigger gap we'll face in future. #SocialMobility benefits everyone. These organisations, and many like them, are showing us a way forward.

What do you want to talk about? #SocialMobility Not as a buzzword. As a way to reframe the #SkillsGap debate. Watch this space - report incoming from Groundswell Innovation on behalf of EY Foundation aimed at demonstrating what smaller employers can do to address talent shortages and why social mobility makes clear business sense.

Innovation isn’t just for big tech firms or fancy Research & Development teams. It’s simple changes that help you stay ahead, find new opportunities, and keep your business strong for the future. This Spring, we’re testing a practical, structured way to make that happen—the #ICE model. It helps people: ✔️ Spot ideas with real commercial potential ✔️ Plan and structure ongoing improvements so they actually get done ✔️ Get the right people involved at the right time No fluff, no unnecessary meetings—just a simple approach that works. And our Innovation Coaching service is as reasonable as our approach. Put the spring back in your step. Email [email protected] for more information.