Impactful Entrepreneurship with the Ingenuity Programme

Run by Nottingham University Business School, the Ingenuity Programme is a national innovation programme that directly addresses the UK’s major social, health and environmental challenges through the creation of impactful new start-ups.

Ingenuity provides participants with skills training, mentoring and experiential learning throughout the programme, helping them to develop their ideas into a viable business. With a host of online resources available on the Ingenuity Skills Hub website, as well as webinars and workshops hosted on Teams, it’s possible to take part in the Programme from anywhere in the world.

Two of last year’s five national winners were University of Nottingham alumni – Climate Champions, Pipeline Organics – a team of Nottingham-based biochemists and engineers – and Food Sciences alumnus Jared Spencer, who won UoN Impact Entrepreneur of the Year for his business Riddim Snacks.

Pipeline Organics are aiming to tackle climate change by reducing industrial emissions. Their TankArc product is renewable energy device that generates electricity from wastewater, reducing businesses’ reliance on electricity from the grid.

“The Ingenuity programme was invaluable for me and for the business we all come from a scientific background”, said Andrew Raslan. “The programme provided us with absolutely crucial business skills and it also connected us to a wider network of businesses that let us find both clients and potential partners.”

Inspired by flavours from Jared Spencer’s home in the Caribbean, Riddim is an allergen-free snack company, which addresses the rise in allergens as the most common chronic disease in Europe.

“I wanted to create a company and products that were easily accessible for everyone regardless of dietary restrictions, while also representing the Caribbean in its most authentic form,” explained Jared. “When I started the Ingenuity programme, Riddim was just a concept - but as I went through the programme and spoke with the mentors and did the workshops, slowly but surely it became less of a concept and more of the actual ready business.”

“I was named the University of Nottingham Impact Entrepreneur of the Year, and that was quite special: the idea for Riddim was born in Barbados, but the skills and the knowledge needed to see it through were attained at the University of Nottingham.”

Ingenuity has proven to be a great springboard for success for participants, and since completing the Programme this summer, Jared has won a Great Taste Award 2023 with his dietarily inclusive Jerk BBQ Plantain Chips and was also shortlisted as a finalist for the 2023 #FreeFromFoodAwards. The Pipeline Organics team have enjoyed success too, winning the Engineers in Business Fellowship 2023 Enterprise Award at their Champion of Champions ceremony in November.

“This means a lot to us because it gives us the confidence that our product can be a real solution to climate problems”, said Andrew Raslan (PhD Biochemistry). “And it also tells us that yes, you can be an engineer or a biochemist and a businessperson as well.”