A NEW style of business support showcased in Newquay has been making waves.

The University of Exeter has held its ‘Innovation in the Wild’ series in the town, which is all about getting outside and doing things differently to spark new ideas in a business.

Delegates attended a workshop with Professor Allen Alexander at the Headland Hotel, which was followed by bodyboarding with Newquay Activity Centre.

The scheme aims to create the right conditions for generating thinking and discussion within peer-to-peer networks. 

The series also aims to take businesses into spaces that invigorate and inspire, using a combination of methods that enable discussion, collaboration and action.

Allen Alexander, who is head of the Sustainable Futures team, based at the University of Exeter Business School in Penryn, said: “I originally conceived these sessions to encourage new approaches in learning about innovative ideas and theory.

“But now they have become so much more from helping nascent entrepreneurs to develop their first pitch; to stimulating new products and services through the process of bio-mimicry; to understanding the circular economy.”

Allen, along with Hollie Kirk a lecturer in entrepreneurship, are delivering the workshops at various venues and locations across Devon and Cornwall, alongside a range of different approaches from immersive residentials on Bodmin and Dartmoor, to beach cleans and guided walks in West Cornwall.  

Hollie said: “Creating these events in the natural environment has supported our participants to realise their own entrepreneurial spirit, alongside your more traditional business acumen.  A challenge for anyone in today’s fast paced and hectic business environment.” 

The University of Exeter has been commissioned to deliver the Evolve Futures project on behalf of the Growth Hub by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth Programme.

Newquay Activity director Rob Barber said: “It was great to be involved in this new approach to supporting businesses and we hope that delegates walked away feeling refreshed and re-energised, equipped with new ideas and practices that can help them take their business to the next level.”