The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) UK – SAL Partner Focus
In the course of our client searches, we engage with a range of R&D organisations and recently there has been a focus on elements of a bioeconomy. What is the bioeconomy? The bioeconomy represents the economic potential of harnessing the power of bioscience, using renewable biological resources to replace fossil resources in innovative products, processes and services.
At Strategic Allies Limited (SAL), we have certainly seen that our clients are focussed on becoming more sustainable, with recent searches including:
– a food ingredients manufacturer looking for a step-change in the production of oils/fats and proteins, and
– a chemical manufacturer looking for alternative sources to their current fossil-fuel derived products for personal care applications.
Increasingly clients are seeing opportunities to not only improve their manufacturing processes or product offerings, but also enable the production of new products from a current waste stream, thereby adding further value. Cross industry organisations such as the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) can be great resources for businesses to use.
The Bioeconomy is a priority for the UK government & there is industry support and funding available. Yorkshire & the Humber has become somewhat of a Bioeconomy Hub with the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) and BioYorkshire (previously BioVale Innovation Cluster) promoting and developing the circular bioeconomy in the area.
The BDC is an open-access scale-up R&D centre providing industry with innovative ideas to convert plants, microbes and biowastes into high-value bio-based products. Their vision is a world where the economy is a bioeconomy.
The BDC facilities are set up to demonstrate the commercial potential of novel technologies at any point in the bio-refinery process, from crop breeding and raw materials characterisation, all the way through varying processing techniques to final product evaluation. Their team of biologists and chemists, bring an effective blend of specialisms to any project, helping clients de-risk and rapidly commercialise bio-based innovations.
At the BDC the lab facilities and flexible office space all are available for hire. All the lab facilities are open access, so if companies know what they need to achieve but don’t have the equipment to do it, then they can arrange to spend time in the BDC labs working alongside an experienced team. The BDC has a 480sqft flexible hall, so if partners have a piece of equipment that needs the right infrastructure and dedicated space to make it work then the flexi hall could be the right place for it.
The BDC is home to the BioYorkshire. BioYorkshire is an initiative to build Yorkshire and the Humber’s capability and reputation as an innovation cluster for the bioeconomy. The cluster can support clients to build partnerships or collaborations, develop entrepreneurship skills, offer communication and marketing advice and help access overseas markets for clients helping to build bio-based supply chains and inward investment.
Strategic Allies clients are generally multinational manufacturing companies, across all sectors, who are seeking differentiation through partners with innovative technologies and solutions for their products and services. If you’d like to learn of new business opportunities from our clients who are actively searching for the technology/expertise you have or have access to then join the SAL Network.
SAL Network Partners include innovation professionals from MNCs, Universities, VCs, accelerators, incubators, patent agents, government funded networks, business support consultants, licensing professionals, accountants….