Leicester Innovation Festival 2025: Brewing Innovative Ideas Roadshow: Harborough District

Join us for an exciting day of innovation, collaboration, and inspiration at the Brewing Innovative Ideas Roadshow: Harborough. De Montfort University, University of Leicester, and Loughborough University, in partnership with Harborough District Council, are coming to your neighbourhood for a drop-in session for local businesses and organisations.

Explore how your business can benefit from working with local universities- be it through placements/ internships, graduate employment, consultancy, CPD programmes or collaborative research such as Innovate-UK grant-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). This event is particularly special as we celebrate 50 years of KTP’s-  a long-standing initiative that has helped businesses innovate and thrive by collaborating with academic experts.

You may have thought that the world of universities and business are far apart, that universities just provide degrees for students or that they are hard to navigate to find the areas of interest or opportunities that align to you. This event will showcase the ways that businesses of different sizes and at different stages can access the knowledge and facilities of your local universities. Our unique partnership with Harborough District Council enables us to hit the road, meeting you where you are.  

Who should attend?
This drop-in session is open to all businesses in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, and surrounding areas, whether or not you've engaged with academic institutions before. If you're eager to tap into local expertise and resources, this drop-in roadshow is for you.

Event Structure
• 9:30 AM: Registration and refreshments
• 10:00 AM: Welcoming remarks from the three universities and Harborough District Council
• 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Drop-in opportunities for informal conversations over coffee and cake

Note: This is a drop-in session; attendees can arrive at a time suitable for them and they are not required to attend for the full morning

What you can gain:

• Discover collaborative opportunities with the three universities and leverage resources for business growth.
• Explore grant funding possibilities, including Innovate-UK KTPs.
• Network with fellow businesses and potential partners.
• Learn how you can access student and graduate talent from the three universities