Every innovation starts with someone spotting a better way of doing things. Maybe it’s a bottleneck on the line, a product that’s fallen behind the market, or an idea that’s been sitting on the shelf for too long. But spotting it is one thing: knowing how to act on it is another.
MAKE SURE IT’S WORTH PURSUING
Some ideas are good – others just sound good. The trick is knowing the difference before you get in too deep.
In manufacturing, that means validating early. You need to test the commercial case, check whether you’ve got the right skills in-house, and be honest about what you don’t know.
That’s where external support can really help. We’ve worked with clients to set up Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) with universities when the in-house capability just wasn’t there. The business still leads the innovation, but now they’ve got the technical backing and appropriate support to move faster and smarter.
KNOW HOW YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT
This is where even the best ideas can stall. You’ve got the vision but no clear funding plan, and suddenly the risk starts to look bigger than the reward.
Funding innovation isn’t about chasing everything on offer. It’s about matching the right option to the right stage of your journey. It could come from grants, tax relief, loans, equity, or a mix of all four. Each one brings its own set of rules, and if you’re not prepared, you could miss out – or worse, end up with costs you didn’t expect.
FUNDING TYPES
At Menzies, we work with manufacturing businesses to build the funding plan before they dive in. That includes modelling cash flow, reviewing eligibility for R&D tax relief, optimising capital allowance claims to accelerate relief, supporting Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) funding, and making sure the business is set up to pass any grant opportunities.
It’s not about luck. It’s about structure.
The truth is most businesses don’t miss out on funding because they’re not eligible. They miss out because they weren’t ready. They didn’t track costs properly, or their structure didn’t support the claim, or they left it too late to apply.
Innovation is risky enough without adding unnecessary friction. A solid funding strategy can keep the rest of the business stable while you go after it.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN THINGS TO ASK YOURSELF?
- Have we pressure-tested the opportunity properly, or are we still guessing?
- Do we know what funding routes make sense for the scale of this project?
- Are we structured to claim tax reliefs, pass a grant audit, or pitch to investors?
- What does our cash flow look like across the full innovation lifecycle?
From Innovation to Commercial Success
Driving Growth in Manufacturing
