Driving Business Growth, Innovation and Job Creation in Torbay
We delivered the IMPACT Torbay Business Growth and Development Programme (a UK Shared Prosperity Fund initiative).
Context
SME Growth Acceleration
As part of the UK Government’s Levelling Up initiative, Torbay Council set out to design and deliver a high-impact business growth and development programme. The ambition: to energise the region’s economy by unlocking the potential of existing businesses, institutions, communities and talent.
Together with Studio Zao, the IMPACT Torbay programme was shaped as a dynamic, multi-year intervention designed to embed entrepreneurial capability, accelerate innovation, and build a thriving business ecosystem in the South West.
Approach
Building an Entrepreneurial Engine for Torbay
The programme focused on cultivating an entrepreneurial culture through targeted engagement with innovation clusters and tech-enabled sectors. Through collaboration with local businesses and community actors, the initiative is helping to spark start-ups, scale existing ventures, and embed new services and revenue streams. It’s laying the groundwork for a more resilient and future-ready economy.
From Ideas to Acceleration
A sequence of open-access hackathons and high-touch ‘accelerator’ cohorts is enabling the most promising concepts to move from idea to execution. Validated solutions receive the expert support, funding, and infrastructure required to be piloted and embedded within Torbay’s economic fabric—creating new jobs and business models that stick.
Measuring What Matters
A robust framework is in place to track meaningful progress: new products launched, jobs created and safeguarded, business support delivered, and capital accessed. With outcomes reported quarterly, stakeholders are able to see real-world impact across both financial and non-financial metrics—right through to March 2025.
Impact
Signalling Growth for the Region
Torbay is taking bold, structured steps to reinvent its economic trajectory — focusing not just on immediate outputs, but on developing the capabilities and partnerships that create long-term commercial and community resilience.
“Studio Zao have been pragmatic and efficient in their undertaking of the Torbay UKSPF programme. The team have forged great relationships with businesses and stakeholders and have remained resilient throughout. I have been impressed with the headway they have made in Torbay, despite no prior experience in the vicinity. I have personally really enjoyed working with closely with Chris, Flora and other members of the team and the IMPACT programme has added value to our business community.”