Emerging innovators from across North East England will be demonstrating their ingenuity and talents to the engineering and manufacturing sector at
Emcon 2024 next month.
EMCON, which is organised by the
Engineering and Manufacturing Network (EMN), is set to take place at
Rainton Arena in Houghton-le-Spring on 12 September. The annual event brings SMEs and larger businesses together to share expertise, highlight their capabilities and strengthen their supply chains.
It has also been announced that this year’s
EMCON will for the first time feature an
Innovation Showcase in partnership with
Innovation SuperNetwork, the innovation arm of business support organisation
UMi. The
Innovation Showcase will enable regional businesses that have been working with Innovation SuperNetwork to demonstrate their most innovative products and services to a wide range of engineering and manufacturing companies. In total, 25 new, early stage or developing companies will be exhibiting as part of the showcase.
EMCON attracted more than 900 visitors and 120 exhibitors from North East England and beyond to Rainton Arena in 2023, and the annual event is now in its 16th year.
The Innovation Showcase is being supported by the Pathways to Funding North of Tyne project and the Tees Valley Securing Investment Programme.
Ailsa Anderson, director of development at EMN, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the
Innovation Showcase and to have Innovation SuperNetwork on board for
EMCON 2024. The showcase will provide a perfect opportunity for visitors to explore new solutions for their challenges and spark new relationships with the innovators and trail blazers on their doorsteps. Through the years, we have created a genuine sense of community around EMCON. It’s a place where ideas can be shared and new partnerships formed. The Innovation Showcase will only strengthen this and we are excited that it will be part of EMCON in September.”
Simon Goon, chief technology and investment officer at Innovation SuperNetwork, said: “We are thrilled to see EMCON returning to Rainton Arena for 2024.
EMCON has long been an important event for SMEs to network with the engineering and manufacturing sectors and we are proud to be bringing a new
Innovation Showcase Zone to the event.”
Innovation and investor supportHe added: “Showcasing emerging products at an early stage is a valuable part of the journey when bringing an innovative product to market and buyer feedback can help businesses to secure investment. Through the Pathways to Funding North of Tyne and Tees Valley Securing Investment Programme, the Innovation SuperNetwork is developing the finance and innovation ecosystem, connecting North East businesses with bright ideas together with the innovation finance that is right for them. We are also looking forward to engaging with EMCON visitors who may be seeking innovation and investor support.”
Among EMCON’s new features this year is a live podcast, featuring Professor Alan Norbury, chief technologist at Siemens. He will be interviewed as part of the
Through the Eye podcast from
Engineers Insight, a central mobile app for industry, which provides access to the latest products, manuals, videos, distributors and job posts.
EMCON 2024 is supported by gold sponsors Business Durham, B2B Injection Moulding, Hexagon and Durham University, silver sponsors SMS, SMS Technology, Made Smarter, RTC, The Durham Business Growth and Productivity Programme and CMYK, bronze sponsors Horizon Works, Cirrus Environmental Solutions and Polymer Compounders, and lunch sponsor Masfix.
Developed from the strong engineering and manufacturing heritage of County Durham, EMN is a long-standing cross-sector network dedicated to building and strengthening the whole of the North East England’s engineering and manufacturing community, from SMEs to multinationals. Its membership stretches across the region.
EMN members can access impartial, peer-to-peer advice via its community of engineering and manufacturing businesses, and the organisation offers informed signposting and personal introductions, workshops and site visits. Its goal is to have 80% of its membership consisting of engineering and manufacturing firms, with 20% of members hailing from the service sector.