The Festival is an annual celebration of ideas and improvements which drive increased productivity among businesses operating in Leicester and Leicestershire. Founded by the Business Gateway Growth Hub in 2018, LIF brings together public, private, and education partners as the hosts of a number of events across the region.
The Festival is now in its seventh year, and the week-long festival of productivity will formally launch at the National Space Centre on Monday, 31 March. This will be followed by a number of events, including workshops, networking opportunities, and conferences, which are available to attend online and in-person at venues across Leicestershire.
Loughborough University is delighted to be hosting the following events:
- Empowering Local Manufacturing – 2pm-3pm, 2 April, online
This online session from Dr Kate Broadhurst from Loughborough Business School will share the findings of the InterAct programme: a £4.4 million, Made Smarter Innovation funded, Economic and Social Research Council-led network that brought together researchers, UK manufacturers, policymakers, and digital technology providers to address the human issues resulting from the diffusion of new technologies in the manufacturing industry. This session will provide insights and practical strategies to enhance the adoption of digital technologies within business operations. Attendees will benefit from ideas to improve digital integration and drive innovation in manufacturing processes.
- Brewing Innovative Ideas Roadshow Harborough District – 9.30am-12.30pm, 2 April, Harborough Innovation Centre
Explore how your business can benefit from working with local universities, be it through placements/ internships, graduate employment, consultancy, CPD programmes or collaborative research such as Innovate-UK grant-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). This event is particularly special as we celebrate 50 years of KTP’s- a long-standing initiative that has helped businesses innovate and thrive by collaborating with academic experts. This event is being run by Loughborough University, De Montfort University, and the University of Leicester in partnership with Harborough District Council.
- Innovation Mixer Clean Tech Edition – 11am-2pm, 4 April, Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park (LUSEP)
Led by the LUinc. Team, this event will help to facilitate meaningful connections between founders in the Clean Tech sectors and experts, professionals, investors, mentors, and industry leaders. There will be facilitated networking, lightning intro pitches, tech talks, and more.
Other event hosts include De Montfort University, Growth Hub, British Business Bank, Innovate UK, University of Leicester, and Charnwood Campus.
The 2025 festival runs from 31 March to 4 April. All events are free to attend. Register now via the Business Gateway Growth Hub website.