Northern Innovation Hub Food and Drink TechHUB Strand 1: Business Support Services

Tender description

A contract has been awarded to provide the following services: The Food and Drink TechHUB project (TechHUB) is to be delivered across the Highland Council area as a project under HIE’s Northern Innovation Hub (NIH) programme. The NIH TechHUB Strand 1: Business Support Services contract which will be required to align with, and complement, existing HIE provision and that of our partners, to provide business support, technical advice and events to develop an existing and growing network of Food and Drink producers and supply chain businesses (SMEs). The key tasks are: - bringing F&D businesses together; - supporting businesses incl. brokering specialist/technical support; - raising awareness and increase implementation of new technologies and opportunities; - developing transformational local, national and international triple-helix collaborations between public sector, businesses and academia; - engaging with partners and stakeholders; - nurturing young entrepreneurs - provide complementary support to the relevant cohort(s) of IMPACT30 participants; - reporting, monitoring and evaluation. These services will be required from 3 May 2022 for an initial period of 3 years, with HIE having the option to extend for a period or periods together not exceeding 12 months following the Initial Term. The initial 3-year budget currently available to deliver this service was between GBP 325,000 and GBP 374,000 (excluding VAT).