Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation

The best of manufacturing, business and academia have come together to bridge the billion-pound-plus commercial ‘valley of death’ in the UK. PP Plus, which is being led by PP Control & Automation, is delivering immediate access to specialist expertise and knowledge to help support companies looking to develop and scale-up green technologies.

More than 20 organisations are involved in the biggest growth support network currently available in the UK, including the likes of Brandauer, Centre for Advanced Low Carbon Propulsion Systems, Cleveland Scott York, Product Approvals, Protolabs, Silverstone Technology Cluster and WMG. Together, they can take innovators from concept development and prototyping to protecting their IP, contract manufacturing and driving sales through PR and marketing.

Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation, said: “PP Plus is all about unlocking and commercialising the ideas that will contribute to a more sustainable future, making UK manufacturing stronger and more successful. It is clear that the UK has a wealth of innovative companies that come up with new concepts and ideas that have true commercial potential and the opportunity to scale. However, they simply do not have the capacity or additional expertise to realise these fantastic ideas.

“Even if they know where to look for this, they often tie themselves in knots trying to find the right route as the traditional support network is convoluted. We know this firsthand from working with companies on innovative new technologies, so felt the best approach was to create our own way forward.”

He added: “That is where PP Plus was born and the reaction from industry partners, business development strategists and some of the UK’s leading universities has been phenomenal. We now believe we have everything in place to take potential customers on and through the entire journey.”

PP Plus’ initial focus will be on supporting companies developing solutions for clean energy, future mobility, agritech innovation and machinery/equipment that contribute to a circular economy. This will create sustainable innovations that will answer critical questions about how we are going to feed ourselves in the future, how do we ‘power’ our society and how do we travel without destroying our planet.

The journey starts with a one-hour discovery session that is completely free of charge and will identify the next steps and the specialist support required to commercialise and scale up the technologies. That may see the client access one, two or three of the main pillars (manufacturing, business, academia) covering anything from product approval and manufacturing capabilities to accessing grants and funding, marketing support and collaborative research and testing facilities.

Sara Williams, senior marketing manager at Protolabs, said: “PP Plus is a great initiative that meets an ever-present need in the UK to bridge the valley of death, pulling lots of commercial, manufacturing, and academic expertise together in one easy to access programme. Protolabs is delighted to be one of the founding members and look forward to working closely with all the partners involved to leverage the collective strength of our knowledge and expertise.”

PP Plus has already received significant interest and a number of early projects have entered the ‘discovery’ phrase.