From the 1st September Future Space are launching a long-term virtual in-residence programme for members.
In June, the programme was piloted with Bristol communications agency Purplefish, covering PR & Marketing advice, and through July it was extended to eight other expert advisors across a range of subject areas.
There was great uptake with 37 sessions booked by residents – 91% said they would recommend these sessions to others, and the average score was 4.5 out of 5.
Jenny Bailey, CEO of Ferryx Ltd, attended one of the pilot sessions with Purplefish and said:“I really appreciate all the effort that’s gone into this – it’s tremendously helpful! I’m feeling ready to tackle this head on now and see what I can come up with, thank you so much for inspiring me”
Following the success of the summer programme, Future Space have partnered with expert advisors from Purplefish, The Product Partnership, Greaves Brewster, ADLIB, RIF Bristol, Lightholm Consulting, Skowt Consulting, Ginkgo, and Ashfords to offer residents support when they need it most.
The initiative has been driven by Aimeé Skinner, Innovation Manager at Future Space, and includes free 1:1 virtual advisory sessions, delivered by experts from a range of subject areas. Aimeé said: “we are thrilled by how well the pilot initiative has gone, and the feedback from residents has been really positive. Being able to offer access to such a broad range of expert advice, all year, will have a huge impact on the businesses based here.
“I’ve enjoyed getting to know all our advisors and I’m looking forward to seeing how the programme can be developed further.”
Jo Randall, Managing Director, Purplefish
Speaking about the sessions, Jo Randall commented: “The Springboard sessions which we have done with Future Space resident businesses have been simultaneously inspiring and invigorating. It’s been an absolute joy to meet such a range of entrepreneurs doing some seriously innovative work. They all have great stories to tell and advising businesses such as these on how to get their messages to the right audience is the reason I continue to love the work I do.
“We are looking forward to keeping in touch with everyone we have met so far and getting connected with new businesses to offer support, advice and a sounding board as part of the Future Space advisory_space initiative.”
Farid Dailami, Associate Professor, RIFBristol
Farid Dailami, Associate Professor, RIFBristol, said: “Getting involved in the advisory_space programme has been a really positive experience for the RIFBristol team. It has helped us to reach out to innovative companies and entrepreneurs in the region, enabling discussions about the ways in which robotics, automation and other advanced manufacturing technologies can support their research, product development and business growth ambitions.
