Cambridgeshire is the region's most innovative county

Cambridgeshire is the most innovative county in the region according to new research commissioned by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

Individuals and businesses based in Cambridgeshire made more applications to register patents than any other county in the region - 32 per cent of all applications made to the National Patent Office (2005/06) from the East of England were from Cambridgeshire firms.

Hot on the heels of Cambridgeshire for innovative ideas are Essex and Hertfordshire with 20 per cent and 18 per cent (respectively). The least innovative counties are Bedfordshire and Norfolk - both scored just nine per cent each, of the total patent applications in the same period.

The survey was sponsored by EEDA's regional flagship business event, Destination Growth '07, and investment competition, 'running the gauntlet'. It examined the characteristics of companies who applied to register a patent with the National Patent Office between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006.  

The results also showed that there is a serious lack of female entrepreneurs in the region. Just eight per cent of those applying to register their innovative idea were female, compared to the staggering 92 per cent of male applicants.

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said: "If a business is to stay at the top of its game it must continually innovate and patenting an idea is the best way to protect it. The patent statistics reflect how strong a county is for innovation and indicate that Cambridgeshire businesses are leading the way. However, to compete on a global stage it is imperative that they receive help to develop even more ideas and innovations. There is no reason why any business man or woman cannot be innovative and there is a huge amount of support and advice available to help them.

"If you are a business with ambitious growth plans, then you should really attend Destination
Growth '07. This is the region's biennial flagship business event and once again it will have some of the country's leading business experts on hand to offer advice and support on how to develop and grow a business."

Perhaps less surprisingly, the survey found the largest majority of applications came from the region's manufacturing sector - 43 per cent of survey respondents worked in manufacturing firms. Every other business sector trailed way behind, with creative industries having the second largest proportion of applicants with just five per cent. 

The results also found that applicants are very aware of the current national environmental concerns and were considering these as part of the process. In fact 11 per cent of applicants hoped to use their patent to improve either their company's environmental impact or health and safety. However, the majority hoped their patent would open up new markets for them or increase their market share (31%) and 24 per cent hoped it would increase the range of goods and services that their companies offer to customers in the future.   

Destination Growth '07 is a full day conference exclusively for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. It offers them a rare opportunity to get ideas and advice, firsthand from some of the country's leading business experts, on how to develop and grow their business.

It will be held on Tuesday 6 November, at Duxford Airspace in Cambridgeshire and speakers announced so far include Jerry Greenfield, of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream fame; Dr Edward de Bono, the world's leading creative thinker; and Sir Robin Young, chair of East of England International (EEI).

It will culminate in the final of EEDA's investment competition, 'running the gauntlet' (RtG), which offers entrepreneurs in the region the chance to win a share of £2 million of equity funding. RtG provides an education programme that helps innovators refine their business propositions in readiness for investment.  One of the key aspects of this is to drive an appreciation of the value of protecting intellectual property (IP) through the patent process.

For more information or to register for Destination Growth 07 visit www.eeda.org.uk/destinationgrowth
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Notes to Editors

For further press information please contact:
Lisa Davidson in EEDA's press office, tel: 01223 200871, email: lisadavidson@eeda.org.uk

About the EEDA commissioned National Patent Office research    
The questionnaire was sent to East of England organisations, businesses and individuals that applied to register patents with the National Patent Office between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006.  The survey was sponsored by EEDA's regional flagship business event, Destination Growth 07, and investment competition, Running the Gauntlet. It examined a number of characteristics of companies and individuals who made the patent applications.

In summary 

County breakdown (all applications from the region to the National Patent Office in the year):
Cambridgeshire - 32%
Essex - 20%
Hertfordshire - 18%
Suffolk - 12%
Norfolk - 9%
Bedfordshire - 9%

Gender split of applicants (survey respondents):
Female - 8%
Male - 92%

Nature of businesses by sector who applied for patents (survey respondents):
Manufacturing - 43%
Creative - 5%
Professional services - 4.5%
Skilled trades - 4.5%
Public sector - 4.5%
IT - 4.5%
Transportation - 3%
Retail - 2%
Business services - 1%
Agriculture - 1%
Other - 27%

('Other' includes: veterinary, research and development, horticulture, renewable technologies, automotive, aerospace, marine technologies.)

Impact applicant hopes patent will have on business/enterprise (survey respondents)
Open new market or increase market share - 31%
Increase range of goods/services - 24%
Improve quality of goods/services - 15%
Improve environmental impact or health and safety - 11%
Improve production facility - 6%
Increase capacity/reduce materials/reduce energy use per unit - 5%
Reduce labour costs - 4%
Meet regulations - 4%

About the East of England Development Agency
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The vision for the East of England is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here.  For further information visit www.eeda.org.uk