The Future Starts Each Morning
Unlocking Potential, part of The Cornwall College Group (TCCG) in partnership with the University of Exeter have brought back an old favourite, Future Focus: in the wake of chaos, thinking ahead has never been more important.
In business, taking your eyes off the everyday and thinking long-term is a handy knack, but also, sometimes, an unaffordable luxury. And in times like these, it’s easy to think that Covid’s chaos renders planning redundant.
Unlocking Potential would completely disagree, which is why they’re delighted to announce the return of Future Focus. Because while change can cause havoc, it can bring new beginnings too. When cracks start to show in the existing order, the agile, imaginative, quick-thinking and far-sighted thrive.
Allyson Glover, Unlocking Potential’s Programme Director, said:
“Our job is to stimulate and encourage innovation. The aim of the Future Focus Programme, in partnership with the University of Exeter, is to get people out of their day-to-day, to re-energise business and help those aspiring to innovate products, services, processes, systems and culture. In addition to all the workshops, webinars, online tools and peer-to-peer learning, Future Focus also offers grants for coaching and innovation, as well as help with research and recruitment.”
Which is why there’s no better time than now for businesses to both look ahead and work on themselves. Having recently established a Lab series in partnership with Visit Cornwall, this bespoke support is designed to equip businesses in the hospitality sector with the tools they need to increase direct bookings for 2021 and beyond.
Allyson Glover continues:
“With the challenges and hurdles appearing and moving daily for businesses during the pandemic, we are working to continuously adapt the programme to provide realistic and achievable solutions to those immediate needs. That is why we are delighted to be working with the team at Visit Cornwall to create a bespoke Lab series tailored to the hospitality industry throughout December.”
Future Focus already has a strong track record for this. Aimed at businesses based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, turning over at least £500k and with ambitions to innovate, its initial programme welcomed over three and a half thousand delegates, 85% of whom said they were “more excited about the future of their business and were more confident to try something new.”
The first Future Focus programme saw a vibrant mix of peer-to-peer workshops (labs), big-thinking, heavy-hitting events and business trips nationally to meet influential business leaders and renowned pioneers.
With its return, Future Focus will be running large inspirational events and Labs online, and as soon as it is safe to do so, will develop a programme of trips. For now, its online Innovation and Future planning sessions will pave the way for a mix of one-to-one support, the new lab series (where businesses are matched into strong peer groups to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and collaboration), one -to-one work with Business Development Managers. Via Future Focus’s partnership with the University of Exeter, there are monthly networking events which focus on specific topics (such as People, Planet, Profit; Circular Textiles; Mining Business Breakfasts and more recently Covid-related topics).
The University, specifically its Business School, will also be contributing to Future Focus via academic-led workshops and bespoke business research exploring how businesses can become more resilient and contribute to a more balanced economy.
John Evans, Principal and CE of TCCG said:
“We are committed to providing funded support to local businesses to assist them in innovation and the exploration of new opportunities. We are known as the Career College for a reason, and we are well placed to help the recovery and development of local firms so they can flourish and provide exciting career opportunities. Building talent pipelines beyond the pandemic needs to start now and we are ready to work with businesses in this vital endeavour.”
More information on the programme and events can be found at www.unlocking-potential.co.uk