HOVIP - Heads of the Valleys Innovation Programme

• Innovation Workshops
• Implementation Support
• Innovation Strategy & Action Plan
• Partner Services
• Innovation Awards
  • Awards Archive 2009
  • Awards Archive 2008
  • Awards Archive 2007
• Innovation Marketplace Event
• Best Practice Promotion
• Practice Enterprise Network

Testimonials

"The most useful aspect of the workshop was being able to define opportunities before wasting time and money getting nowhere."

K. Paine, Kenneth Paine & Company

2010 Heads of the Valleys Innovation Awards

The Spirit of Innovation
Driving Success in the Valleys…and Beyond

The winners of the 2010 Awards were announced in front of a capacity audience in the warm early evening sunshine at Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel & Spa.
See what the lead sponsor said, discover the ‘smoothie bike’ and capture the spirit of the event, which was filmed by a Blaenau Gwent-based business.

Four companies based in the Valleys have been recognised for their innovative and enterprising approach to business in the Heads of the Valleys Innovation Awards, an event which showcases and celebrates business innovation in the region.

Award Winners 2010

• Most Innovative Social Enterprise Business
  Sponsored by Capital Law

  Telecentre and Business School Ltd

  Telecentre and Business School is based in Porth and was the winner of the Most Innovative Social Enterprise award. The company helps unemployed and economically inactive people get back into work by providing training services, personal development plans and basic skills and encourage entrepreneurial activity. They also created a social enterprise business incubator to support new and growing businesses.

  • Business incubation service for social enterprises
  • First in Wales and only aware of one other in UK
  • Partnerships with C1st, RCT Homes &training providers
  • Engaged 200 people &supported 11 businesses since Oct09
  • Unemployed pilot created 3 new social enterprises since Jan10
  • Planned Academy for Social Entrepreneurs

  "A good example of a third sector organisation recognising the value of the Voluntary and Community Sector, building on ‘social’ capital and taking forward the needs of the community that they serve, innovatively identifying new and novel ways of delivering its services."

  Judges citation

• 

  Most Innovative Sole Trader
  Sponsored by HSBC Bank plc

  School of Life

  School of Life, winner of the Most Innovative Sole Trader category is based in Abercynon and is an organisation dedicated to presenting helpful ideas in humorous ways. Their unique approach is using a combination of stand-up comedy, multimedia and original music to communicate important life skills to pupils in secondary schools and sixth-form colleges throughout England and Wales.

  • Uses stand-up comedy, multimedia and music to develop key skills, communications and teamwork
  • Unaware of any other UK organisation that provides educational stand-up comedy shows to schools
  • Customers include: schools and colleges in England and Wales, business clients and comedy venues
  • Based in GTi incubator and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe

  "An inspiring entry that showed creativity and innovation in the way they are delivering their services. Great to see that the business is continuing to operate in difficult circumstances and that they took the recommendation to re-enter the HOVIP competition again this year - this time with a track record."

  Judges citation

• 

  Most Innovative Business with less than 20 employees
  Sponsored by South Wales Chamber of Commerce

  RUMM (Remote Utility Monitoring and Management) Ltd

  Winner of the Most Innovative Business with less than 20 employees, RUMM (Remote Utility Monitoring and Management) Ltd, is an organisation that aims to protect the environment and reduce costs by using innovative technology and a proven methodology to reduce carbon emissions, achieving large savings for local economies and reducing the impact on the environment.

  • University of Glamorgan spinout company
  • £1m+ turnover and 10 employees since Nov 2005
  • Unique total energy management solution
  • ‘RUMM Pulse‘ innovatively acquires data from any type of utility meter - idea originated in a pub in Finland!
  • Customers include: Continental Teeves, Sekisui, NHS &Doncasters. Helped save £10m since started.

  "A truly innovative company who have demonstrated the benefits of undertaking their R&D collaboratively with the university sector in Wales: leading to innovative products and services which both save their customers money and help to save the environment."

  Judges citation

• 

  Most Innovative Business with more than 20 employees
  Sponsored by BT

  Williams Medical Supplies Ltd

  Based on the Maerdy industrial estate, Rhymney William Medical Supplies is the leading provider of medical supplies and services to the UK healthcare market. Winner of the Most Innovative Business with more than 20 employees, the company provides equipment, pharmaceuticals and a range of services to Primary Care providers such as hospitals, GP surgeries and NHS trusts across the UK.

  • innovation = Medical Services Division (MSD)
  • MSD grown from zero to 25 staff &£1.5m turnover in 5 years
  • MSD provides a ‘one-stop-shop‘ for GPs covering: test &calibration, infection control, mercury disposal, surgery insurance, finance and leasing.
  • MSD innovation has enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility
  • systematic innovation involving staff, suppliers &customers

  "This entry impressed the judges greatly. Having established a systematic innovation management process to bring this idea to the market and realise the benefits, their innovation process is embedded and ‘serial innovations’ can be expected to flow through the company’s business.

  Their systematic approach to identifying the need and then developing and piloting the innovation was an extremely strong part of the entry, being able to track specific and concrete benefits to its businesses arising directly from the innovation, which has clearly provided added value benefits to their clients and the ultimate beneficiaries - the patients in the NHS system."

  Judges citation

• 

  Most Innovative Exhibitor at the Event
  Sponsored by Flexible Support 4 Business (FS4B)

  St. David’s Foundation Hospice Care

  "Not only did the "pink ladies" from St David‘s Foundation promote the upcoming fundraising events through their display material and on their T-shirts, they also encouraged visitors to "pedal their way to a healthy smoothie". Mounted on the back of a bicycle, the smoothie liquidiser was operated by pedal power. In went fresh strawberries, bananas and berries – and if visitors pedalled fast enough, out came a delicious, healthy St David‘s Smoothie Special! Eye-catching, attention-grabbing, highly interactive and lots of fun."

  Judges citation

Event summary

Organised by the Heads of the Valleys Innovation Programme (HOVIP) this year‘s ceremony and related business exhibition was held at Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel &Spa where over 200 guests attended.

The Heads of the Valleys Innovation Awards acknowledge the very best in business innovation and enterprise, and highlight the true commercial and business talent the region has to offer.

The Awards are open to any businesses, including social enterprises, within the Heads of the Valleys region and any business in the boroughs of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, RCT, Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen that can demonstrate a significant impact on or a link to the Heads of the Valleys area as well as beyond.

HOVIP is mainly funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and is a practical and creative programme of support delivered by business people for business people.

Phil Burkhard, programme manager for HOVIP, said: "Now in its fourth year, the Awards honour the most innovative businesses in the region who can demonstrate how creativity and innovation has made an impact on their business, workforce, customers, communities or the environment."

"This has been the most successful yet with a record 57 entrants. We have once again seen evidence that businesses are truly embracing innovation in the Heads of the Valleys region and using it to make their companies a real success. All the Award entrants have automatically become members of the Turning Heads Club (HOVIP‘s regional business network) whose members are a collective beacon for the region."

The 2010 event was sponsored by the University of Wales Global Academy and the Award sponsors are BT, HSBC, Capital Law, South Wales Chamber of Commerce and FS4B.

Richard Turner, of the University of Wales Global Academy said: "The level of creativity and innovation demonstrated in our winning businesses increases each year I have judged these awards. This highlights that the Heads of the Valleys region is becoming more innovative and more competitive through no small part the work the HOVIP and other initiatives such as the Prince of Wales Innovation Scholarships."

Background to the 2010 Awards

Award Judges 2010

Award Entrants 2010

Thank you