The Suffolk Business Board was established in May 2024 following the integration of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership functions into Suffolk County Council. It comprises representatives from business, education, the voluntary sector and local government.
Business Board members:
Chair: Mark Pendlington
Deputy Chair: Cllr Matthew Hicks, Suffolk County Council
Doug Field, East of England Co-Op
Oliver Paul, Suffolk Food Hall
Lisa Perkins, Tech East
Peter Brady, Orbital Global
Kelly Boosey, Oxford Innovation
Leanne Gittins, LME Recruitment
John Dugmore, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce
Tom Ball, Ipswich Town Football Club
Hannah Bloom, Suffolk Community Foundation
Paul Ager, Associated British Ports
Marek Hornak, University of Suffolk
Nikos Savvas, Eastern Education Group
Cllr Richard Smith MVO, Suffolk County Council
Cllr Andy Mellen, Mid Suffolk District Council
Cllr Neil MacDonald, Ipswich Borough Council
The East of England Agri-Food Tech Launchpad has officially come to an end, with a close-down event celebrating the programme’s achievements and the businesses it has supported.
Hosted at the newly launched Stowmarket Innovation Gateway, the event brought together businesses, partners and stakeholders involved in the programme to reflect on its impact and hear from some of the innovative companies that have benefited from support. Businesses like Cropworks and Diometer shared the stories behind their companies, their growth journeys and how involvement in the programme helped them develop new ideas, products and technologies.
The Launchpad was a partnership between Innovate UK, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire County Councils, and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. It was created to accelerate innovation across the agri-tech and food-tech sectors, helping businesses tackle industry challenges through research, development and collaboration.
Over the lifetime of the programme, 51 businesses received support through innovation grants and collaborative research and development projects. Those businesses have since gone on to secure more than £130 million in additional private investment, demonstrating the programme’s lasting impact and the commercial potential of the innovations it helped bring forward.
Speakers at the event highlighted the importance of supporting innovation in a sector that plays a vital role in the economy of Eastern England. From advances in sustainable food production and crop management to the use of new technologies and data-driven solutions, the programme has helped businesses explore new approaches to some of the industry’s biggest challenges.
The event also provided an opportunity to celebrate the power of collaboration between businesses, research organisations and public sector partners. By bringing together expertise from across the region, the Launchpad has helped create new connections, strengthen innovation networks and support the continued growth of a world-leading agri-tech cluster in the East of England.
Although the programme has now concluded, we are excited to see what’s next for the businesses, partnerships and innovations it has helped to develop, many of which are expected to drive future growth and investment across the region.
WHERE BIG
IDEAS HAPPEN.
