Project aims and objectives

Through the Future Factory eligible businesses can access NTU's vast resources to become more sustainable organisations.

The Future Factory project offers small to medium sized companies (SMEs) in the East Midlands a fantastic opportunity to draw on the expertise they need to develop more efficient and sustainable ways of doing business. We are able to offer this support for free or at a heavily subsidised rate support as the project is 40% funded by the European Regional Development Fund and 60% funded by Nottingham Trent University. 

We deliver our support via the following initiatives:

• assistance phase
• collaborative project
• events and graduate placement funding.

Future Factory aims to:

• inspire you to explore ways to design out wasteful business process and practice
• support you to design in environmentally neutral technologies and materials, alternative after-life uses, re-use, recoverability, recyclability and sensitive disposal
• share knowledge across our network of inspirational experts and like-minded business people, small and medium-sized enterprises, and entrepreneurs.

Future Factory provides a place to:

Talk
Explore the various sustainability issues which affect your business through our workshops and bespoke programmes. We'll introduce you to a vast range of resources and expertise both within the university and our broader networks.

Plan
We'll develop a plan specifically for your business which designs a creative and innovative route to your sustainable future.

Act
We'll source the expertise you need; we'll provide access to design and development technology and creative space necessary. We'll manage the project which might include anything from just a few hours mentoring, to a longer term research or design project, utilising graduate students and other experts.

Change
We'll monitor the changes in your business and help make sure it all works.

The first step to change is to get in touch and begin to shape your relationship with Future Factory and NTU.

The project, partly funded by European Regional Development Fund, and managed via the East Midlands Development Agency, has a project team ready to assist you find the expertise you need.

Download a project brochure.