All you need to start your innovation journey: insights from the “How Businesses Innovate in this Climate” round table

Think Hire recently joined business leaders from across Greater Manchester at the How Businesses Innovate in this Climate round table, hosted by North West Business Desk in partnership with The University of Salford.

The discussion explored how organisations, from start-ups to global enterprises, can drive innovation through university collaboration, knowledge transfer and cultural adaptability, even in uncertain economic conditions. 

Key themes from the session included:

• KTPs as a catalyst — accessing not just one expert, but the full breadth of university capability, with proven long-term ROI for industry
• Innovation through adaptation — many transformative outcomes begin with pivots, not the original brief
• Culture before code — empowering “ambassadors” inside organisations accelerates adoption and de-risks change
• AI and creative industries — moving from fear to ownership, upskilling and IP creation
• Board-to-frontline alignment — innovation fails without buy-in at both ends
• Independent validation — universities play a critical role in testing, proving and de-risking emerging technologies

Think Hire’s Technical Director, Peter McCulloch, shared a delivery-side perspective, focusing on how innovation is translated from concept into operational reality on live projects.

Participants included:
Professor Mandy Parkinson, University of Salford
Glen Mullins, Vue
Gill Smith, AtkinsRéalis
Deborah Cleary, NoCodeLab.ai
Sunny Prakash, WERIT UK
Bassel Ounah, Neptune Submerge
Dan Walker, AI for Business
Ian Eastwood, Eluceda
Professor Will Swan, Energy House Labs

A clear message emerged: innovation is created through partnership, experimentation and scaling what works.

Thank you to everyone involved for a discussion rooted in real delivery and not just theory. It showed how quickly impact can be created when academia and industry sit around the same table.

Read more here: https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/