Data Catalyst
A collaborative initiative designed to help Preston businesses unlock the full potential of their data
About the Data Catalyst
You're already collecting data—now it's time to turn it into a strategic asset.
The Data Catalyst can help forward-thinking businesses like yours transform underutilised data into actionable intelligence. Whether it's improving customer retention, optimising operations, or making smarter, faster decisions, your data holds the key.
We have a limited number of places available for businesses to apply to join dynamic peer network and access academic expertise to unlock the value of your data.
Designed for senior decision makers from established Preston-based business from all sectors. This initiative would ideally suit businesses with 10+ employees.
This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Data Catalyst is designed and delivered by Lancaster University as part of the Lancashire Universities Innovation Programme in partnership with Preston Council.
Start Date: 15th October 2025
Apply Now
What's Involved?
The Data Catalyst starts on 15th October with an in-person activation session, followed a number of further progress checkpoints over the remaining 5 months. There will also be a requirement to liaise with the Master’s student working on your project between November and February, with dates to be arranged independently, before the final conclusion and project presentations in March.
Benefits to Business
The design of the Catalyst draws on our extensive expertise and success over the past 20 years in facilitating business change and transformation. You will have access to university expertise and introduced to further opportunities for future collaboration.
Drive Profits & Sales
Use predictive insights to identify new opportunities and improve existing products.
Enhance Efficiency
Spot bottlenecks, reduce waste, and streamline operations.
Make Confident Decisions
Move from guesswork to evidence-based strategies.
Boost Customer Experience
Deliver personalised, data-driven interactions.
Stay Ahead
Identify market trends and adapt before your competitors do.
Dr Amjad Fayoumi, Lancaster University Management School
"In today’s data-driven business and economic environment, organisations are increasingly turning to the data they collect to gain valuable insights that drive strategic decision-making, optimise operations, improve customer experiences, and enhance overall business performance. By analysing data more comprehensively, they can identify trends, understand customer behaviour, predict future outcomes, and make informed decisions to achieve their objectives.
However, none of this would be possible without appropriate data architectures, robust governance frameworks, and strong data quality measures in place. Combining this critical area with our analytical capability is exactly what we do at LUMS to support the growth of local businesses.''
Key areas where data drives business value
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- Data driven insights – real-time analytics
- Scenario modelling – simulate outcomes of strategic choices
- Risk management and mitigation – financial
- Inform strategic business decision making – patterns and facts guesswork, spot opportunities
- Accounting data - decisions, reduce risk, develop procedural improvements and predictive insights
- Preventing fraud – anomaly detection
- Calculating financial performance
- Budget analysis
- Benchmarking against competition/industry standards
- Supply chain & logistics – tracking, re-routing, predict demand
- Eliminate bottle necks, inefficiencies and waste in workflows / processes
- Predictive maintenance
- Enhanced security
- Tracking time spent on specific tasks
- Determining shipping times
- Employee pay and determining raises
- HR – team and individual performance and productivity analysis
- Allocating labour, materials and time
- Customer segmentation – grouping customers
- Customer experience and retention – personalised experiences for individual profiles
- Customer journey mapping – touchpoints across brand interaction
- Evaluating customer feedback
- Analysing and predicting customer behaviours
- Product usage analytics: understand how customers use products to guide improvements.
- Idea validation: test new concepts with A/B testing and feedback loops
- Market gap identification: discover unmet needs of underserved segments.
- New product creation and development
- Improving existing products
- Marketing optimisation and forecasting
- Identifying market share
- Identifying trends in the market and new opportunities
- Website traffic analysis
- Upselling and cross-selling
- Dynamic pricing – adjust in real-time – demand, competition & inventory
- Churn prediction – proactively retain at-risk customers
Tim Bloomer, Co-owner, Fell Brewery
"Our data project has had an immediate impact—broadening the level of analysis and accelerating access to insights that can be turned into opportunities to improve operational efficiency and profitability."
Costs & Eligibility
The Data Catalyst is fully funded and available to businesses who are eligible under the Shared Prosperity Funding criteria, as follows:
- Business based in Preston city council local authority district
- Received less than £315,000 of subsidies in the last 3 years
Find out more about how and why Lancaster University and our funding bodies holds your information.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2026. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
