Innovation in the North Staffordshire Ceramics District - stimulation through international trade fairs

This report arises from a programme of academic research conducted in 2013 on firms in the North Staffordshire Ceramics district. In this specific briefing, we report on our examination of the benefits of attending international trade fairs and business conferences for innovation. Such events are normally used purely to maintain or grow market presence, but the presence of many international firms at such events may also create a temporary ecology of ‘global buzz’ which can potentially enhance innovative performance for firms that attend. We found this to be true for the firms in this cluster. There is also some evidence to suggest that global buzz complements ‘local buzz’ to further enhance innovation within the North Staffordshire cluster.

We recommend that efforts by the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce to encourage local ceramics firms to attend international events continues both to support the growth of international markets but also to further stimulate their dynamic ability to generate innovations for the future.