HMG named as innovator

HMG Paints Ltd has been recognised as one of the 100 most innovative companies in Greater Manchester, in a report produced by BQ and the Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company.

HMG Paints’ managing director, John Falder, said, ‘Practically, at its most fundamental, innovation is a way of being; a way of thinking. And it’s a way of looking at everything you do, whether it’s a product, a system, a process, and looking at it from a slightly odd standpoint. Not ‘how clever are we?’, but the opposite: how can we substantially improve, develop, change, alter what we do and the way we operate?

The new initiative is designed to shine the spotlight on some of Greater Manchester’s most forward-thinking small and medium sized businesses. Firms recognised come from right across the Greater Manchester region, and represent sectors as diverse as food and drink, manufacturing, healthcare and digital.

The report was supported by Dehns, Catax, the University of Salford and the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group.

Chris Greenhalgh, head of innovation at Business Growth Hub, said, ‘It’s our aim with Innovation100 to raise the profile of those businesses innovating in different ways, inspiring others to innovate and achieve growth.

‘What the Innovation100 companies underline is that while innovation can often be related to products, it can also apply to developing disruptive business models, applying new processes and delivering new services. Innovation is across many different facets of business, across different sectors and different sizes of companies.’