Equal Adventure, located near Aviemore in the Highlands of Scotland, is a registered charity with their main aim being to continue the development of equipment, information and resources, making outdoor adventure, fieldwork and active lifestyles accessible regardless of disability.
Equal Adventure works in a number of areas to ensure that adventure is accessible to people with disabilities which includes; equipment development, training, events and information. The trading arm of the charity operates as a social enterprise to ensure that the products they develop are able to reach the people and organisations that require them through sustainable manufacture, pricing and supply.
Equal Adventure had developed and created a prototype of snow board bindings for double leg amputees and needed to complete stringent laboratory based assessments of the product to validate the bindings.However, they did not have access to such expertise or facilities and required a third party to carry out the highly specialised testing so that the new product could be developed for the market.
Equal Adventure approached Interface – The knowledge connection for business after learning about the free and impartial brokerage service they provide.
Interface worked to translate their needs into a suitable brief for Universities and research centres across Scotland. Having conducted an extensive search Interface identified the required knowledge and facilities within the University of Strathclyde. The University’s department of Design Manufacture and Engineering Management’s Industrial Projects scheme allowed a student to undertake the design, development and testing of the product over the course of an academic year.
The project provided a unique work experience opportunity giving the student direct practical industry experience and resulted in a working prototype which established the design viability.
As a result of the knowledge connection made by Interface, Equal Adventure have proved the bindings are safe for use by double leg amputees and in doing so they have been able to add another product to their range.
Suresh Paul, Principal Advocate at Equal Adventure explained, “Interface linked Equal Adventure to the expertise provided by the University of Strathclyde which has been invaluable to us and enabled us to extend our product range making outdoor adventure even more accessible to all.”
Thanks to this partnership Equal Adventure has been able to authenticate the safety elements of the prototype and have subsequently created a new product which has allowed them to enter new markets, increase sales and safeguard jobs.
Albyn Housing Society Limited began in 1973 by building homes for the incoming workers at the Invergordon smelter. Started with only a handful of staff, the Society now has 63 employees and two offices in Invergordon and Inverness and currently manages over 2,750 properties either through affordable rent or low cost home ownership schemes.
Background
Albyn Housing Society wanted to investigate the feasibility of offering Assisted Living Services to their vulnerable residents through the use of Assisted Living Technologies as part of their suite of services.
Assisted Living Technologies (ALT) are defined as those sensors, devices and communication systems that together allow the delivery of Assisted Living Services (ALS) including telehealth, telecare, wellness, digital participation and teleworking services.
Interest in telecare is growing due to concern over caring for increasing numbers of older people and the challenges of service delivery in remote and rural areas. Telecare is viewed increasingly as a means of creating efficiencies and cost savings for service providers, prolonging independence and improving quality of life for service users and supporting carers.
The Business Challenge
Interface – The knowledge connection for business facilitated a meeting between Albyn Housing Society and the Centre for Rural Health at the University of the Highlands & Islands to discuss the idea of providing Assisted Living Technologies to their vulnerable customers as part of the suite of services that they currently provide. Albyn Housing wanted to explore what the new service delivery model might look like, how it could benefit the business/customer and how it could be implemented and evaluated. They were also interested in opening up possibilities for training and job opportunities for young people in rural areas.
Having examined the conclusions and recommendations of the initial feasibility study into telecare delivery, Albyn Housing Society are looking to develop a longer term collaborative relationship that will allow them to proceed with planning and establishing a telecare service to vulnerable customers.
“Our involvement with Interface has been hugely beneficial for Albyn Housing Society Ltd as their introduction has been fundamental in developing our relationship with the Centre for Rural Health and has led to further joint work with UHI. We have already generated interest from the social housing sector in the work we have done so far…” Calum Macaulay, Cheif Executive, Albyn Housing Society
Invereach, based in Inverness, were looking to diversify their business and had developed a caffeinated, carbonated ‘pick-me-up’ drink. The new product is intended to appeal to the female market and it needed to have branding to reflect this. The drink comprises of naturally derived ingredients and they wanted to strongly draw on this association in its branding.
Business Challenge
In the early stages of development, the company identified a need for academic support to provide the expertise and research to create, build and develop a new brand.
Solution
Interface – The knowledge connection for business facilitated introductions between Invereach and the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Marketing. The project formed an opportunity for students to use it as part of their dissertations. The company worked with two sets of students, as part of their undergraduate course, who were able to develop a suitable brand for the energy drink and the brand ‘Super!Natural’ was developed for the product.
Benefits
Invereach launched the energy drink and it is now available across the Highlands and in a number of outlets in Scotland. The students were able to develop product branding specifically to the target market and provided the company with the research and branding development to access an entirely new market. A long term partnership has been established between Invereach and the University of Strathclyde.
Established in 1951, Highland Fine Cheeses has key brands retailing in the major supermarkets and speciality cheese shops UK-wide. A family business, HFC manufactures traditional cheeses unique to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Cream cheeses include Crowdie and Caboc. Its fresh cheese Strathdon Blue was named Scotland’s best cheese at the 2002 British Cheese Awards.
The Business Challenge
Highland Fine Cheeses (HFC) wanted to gain a more in-depth understanding of the current traditional cheese market to enable them to develop and launch a new product, potentially for the snack market.
The Solution
Interface facilitated an introduction between Highland Fine Cheeses and Dr Andrew Allsebrook, Food Innovation @ Abertay (FIA) at the University of Abertay, Dundee.
Focus groups were conducted and consumer research undertaken by Abertay, which focused on the well-known Crowdie and Black Crowdie products.
In relation to the Crowdie cheese, HFC wanted to investigate the options of redesigning the packaging of the product in the style of a ‘snack pot’ or ‘on the go’ item. The project also required Abertay to propose different methods of enhancing the ingredients, as well as suggesting new product lines.
Through working with a small group of sensory panellists and focus groups, information was gathered on consumer opinions in relation to the Crowdie, along with their views on an addition to the savoury snacks, for example the addition of small biscuits or mini oatcakes.
Using FIA’s product development skills and their dedicated New Product Development facility, a range of fresh ingredients were integrated into the Crowdie. This narrowed down by the focus groups to two potential products. At each stage, ingredient price, ease of production and consumer satisfaction was considered.
The Benefits
The final prototypes were presented to HFC as well as a buyer from a major supermarket, with positive results. HFC now have a greater understanding of the potential for the Crowdie.
In terms of the Black Crowdie, the focus was on presentation. The cheese was reduced in size from 1kg to 500g. In addition the ratio of black peppercorn to oatmeal in the standard 140g Black Crowdie was analysed. The examination led to a reduction in the pepper level, which has enhanced the tasting experience for consumers as the blend is more subtle.
On the back of these improvements the firm will also introduce changes to its Caboc cheese, which will result in HFC boosting its bottom line due to the high cost of pepper.
HFC was also able to take full advantage of the FIA food photography studio enable the company to showcase it’s product range professionally in future marketing materials.
As a result of these changes a major supermarket buyer has expressed significant interest in Black Crowdie.
Lorraine joined Interface from VisitScotland where she worked for 25 years. With experience as their London Office Manager, Operations Manager for their world renowned Quality Assurance Schemes and latterly working within EventScotland on Year of Food and Drink; Lorraine brings a wealth of Tourism and Food & Drink experience to the Interface Highlands and Islands (H&I) Team.
Lorraine aims to spread the word about Interface more widely across the H&I, showing how we can help businesses achieve their ambitions no matter the size or scope. Interface can open up a whole new world of possibilities by introducing business owners to resources they never knew were available to them. Lorraine works to help businesses understand that Interface can save them time, money and effort by matching them to the right expertise across Scotland’s renowned universities and colleges.
In short, if you’ve got an idea, give it a kick-start by getting academics to do the research and development work for you!
Lorraine is based at An Lochran, the fabulous Enterprise and Research Centre in Inverness where Highlands and Islands Enterprise is located with key research and education departments from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and research and consultancy divisions from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).