A DRIVE to help companies boost their performance by putting new ideas into practice is being launched in Oxfordshire, writes David Duffy.

The newly-opened Cherwell Innovation Centre at Heyford Park will be the venue for a series of workshops which start tomorrow.

Centre administrator Anne-Sophie Vallier said staff had worked hard to get the innovation centre running.

She said: "We hope many companies will attend these workshops in our newly-refurbished conference room and take the opportunity to see our new centre."

The workshops will be presented by the centre manager Dr Treve Willis, who has worked on the Motorsport Industry Forum, the schools' motorsport competition and the hi-tech engineering forum.

He said: "The workshops will cover techniques for generating new ideas, risk assessment in innovation, competitor analysis and creating the right environment for innovation." Dr David Kingham, managing director of Oxford Innovation which is organising the workshops, said more than 70 people attended a similar meeting held in Banbury two years ago.

He said: "We now have a purpose-built conference room in a newly-refurbished Innovation Centre and we hope to hold many more events, workshops and training courses to appeal to growing companies in north Oxfordshire."

The centre is owned by the North Oxfordshire Consortium which is developing the former US air base and leased to Oxford Innovation.

When complete the centre will have about 12,000 sq ft of space available for let and will eventually be the home for up to 25 companies, providing up to 100 jobs.

The workshops are being run by Oxford Innovation in partnership with Cherwell District Council and the Heart of England Training and Enterprise Council.

The first workshop is free, but people planning to attend must register in advance with Ms Vallier on 01869 238000.

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