A new £5 million scheme is delivering free training and consultancy to small and medium-sized firms to help them exploit growing opportunities in sustainable construction.
Sustainable Building Futures - a unique project funded by Coventry University with the European Regional Development Fund - will run until June 2015 in the West Midlands, the region most affected by the downturn in the construction industry. It aims to overcome the problems faced by smaller firms in transforming their approach in line with new sustainable construction methods and technologies, help them be part of consortia capable of winning large contracts, and be part of quality supply chains for the construction industry giants.
Specialist support and advice is provided to groups or on a one-to-one basis, tackling specific issues faced by individual businesses on diversification and the use of green building technologies. Firms have access to development, testing and demonstration facilities, along with the latest products, materials and services.
The free support is available to eligible firms - in construction or related sectors - interested in the potential of the sustainable construction market, and in 'going green for growth'. More than 60 businesses have used the free service since the launch of the scheme at the end of 2012, attending seminars and involving consultants in providing advice on making best use of new technologies and new product development.
Firms are also helped to work with each other, partnering with customers, buyers, other SMEs and larger corporate organisations in the supply chain, individual inventors and even competitors to increase the flow of ideas. SMEs and individual entrepreneurs benefit from this approach by gaining ready access to the power and market know-how of the large organisations, who in turn, gain by widening their innovation portfolio and pipeline.
