The RDA Innovation team is here to help you

Posted by on 16 May 2022

The RDA’s Innovation team exists to create jobs and economic opportunities in Rochdale Borough, and it does so in increasingly proactive and creative ways.

In some respects the team offers a traditional business support service, but even in this respect it goes above and beyond what other authorities can bring to the table.

“We are quite a unique service,” says Neil Eccles, the team’s head. “Other areas typically don’t have this level of business support. They might have a single individual who answers business queries. We have a team that is both reactive and proactive.”

At the heart of the service is its work to support businesses that already call Rochdale home and those from outside the Borough that show an interest in relocating to the area.

Carol Hopkins and Michelle McHugh are well known in the local business community and further afield. Though the roles can blur, Carol tends to take care of businesses that are already in Rochdale, while Michelle helps those that are looking to move to the Borough.

Carol says that her job is to support businesses in any way she can, which can mean ten different things to ten different companies.

“Really, we offer a one-stop-shop for what businesses need to help them compete and grow. That could mean helping them with recruitment, or waste recycling or, just recently, 3D printing. Of course, we don’t offer those services ourselves, but we put businesses in touch with people who do.”

That referral role involves nurturing a network of contacts throughout Rochdale and Greater Manchester. Carol might point one business in the direction of a new source of funding. She might hook another up with an expert at a local university.

“Quite a lot of my work at the moment revolves around sustainability issues, and helping local businesses meet recycling or green energy targets,” she says.

Like Carol, Michelle spends a lot of time meeting businesses and talking through what they need. It’s a proactive service, which also involves promoting Rochdale’s benefits to businesses who are not familiar with the area.

“We try to provide a single point of contact for businesses that are interested in coming here,” says Michelle. “Quite often that means identifying the right property for their needs, and we also help them with recruitment issues and access to funding pots or council services, among other things.”
Lindsay Hurst is quite new to the team and much of her focus is on matching businesses that are new to the area - or existing businesses looking to grow - with the right property. That includes regularly updating the availability of units on the Borough’s well regarded business parks.

Lindsay, who was previously who previously worked at Hopwood Hall College and Rochdale Borough Council, has a wider remit too. “I offer support to the whole team, and pull together what the RDA is doing and what we have coming up, with regards to business events and other opportunities,” she says.

The team also helps to nurture a sense of community among the businesses in the Borough.

Carol, Michelle and Lindsay connect businesses with similar opportunities and challenges, so they can share knowledge and work through issues together. When the need is there, they will organise round tables with relevant experts.

Neil likens the Innovation team’s service to an old-fashioned telephone switchboard. For businesses, making all the necessary connections themselves would be hugely time consuming and often frustrating.

The RDA is the expert operator who knows exactly which connection to make.

A new connection on the switchboard is the Advanced Machinery & Productivity Institute - AMPI for short. AMPI - based in Rochdale - has a nationally important role in the promotion of advanced manufacturing technology. It will be a major selling point for the Borough.

Richard Perkins has joined the Innovation’s team to promote AMPI to the business community in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.

By the end of 2024, AMPI will be a physical building on Kingsway Business Park, and the ambition after that is for the institute to be at the heart of a cluster of advanced manufacturing businesses and organisations.

But even as it waits for a physical headquarters, AMPI’s work has already begun.

“The project we have live at the moment provides 20 days of fully funded support to businesses to work with our expert partners in areas like robotics, automation or measurement, to help them improve their processes and become more efficient,” says Richard.

Those partners include the universities of Manchester, Salford, Leeds and Huddersfield, and the National Physical Laboratory. With their help, manufacturers can modernise dated systems and better compete on the national and international stage.

AMPI’s partners are located across the M62 corridor, and it aims to attract interested businesses from the major conurbations of the North West and West Yorkshire. By doing so, it will further cement Rochdale’s growing reputation as a major national centre for advanced manufacturing and materials.

“We’re positioning Rochdale as a manufacturing centre of excellence, which draws on its traditional strengths” says Neil. “It also ties into ideas like the “levelling up” agenda.”

AMPI and other initiatives, like Atom Valley and the team’s work on advanced materials, will create more interest in Rochdale as a business-friendly location. The Innovations team will make sure businesses attracted by the area’s potential, and those already here, have all the support they need. 

To get in touch with the team please call 01706 927000 or email them on info@investinrochdale.co.uk