Working with businesses and other organisations

As well as creating positive change and enhancing teaching and learning, engaging with businesses can generate income. This can be directly through activities such as contract research and consultancy income. Indirectly, knowledge exchange activity carried out by the University contributes to the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey (HE-BCI survey), which in turn determines the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) funding.

There are different stages to working with businesses and other organisations. These are simply put below:

What are their values and goals?

Ask questions and be curious to find out and understand the motivation of your stakeholder.

What can you provide to the stakeholder that will be of value to them?

The most common currency that the University can offer is the knowledge and expertise of an academic/research. This may be arranged through a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP), research consultancy, or a research contract, for example. More details of each of these is below.

You need to retain an open mind and be adaptive to your stakeholder. Relationships can take a long time to build up, initially you may start working together on a small initiative allowing you to build up trust, which can lead to further opportunities.

Three people sat round table in business meeting

Consultancy

Consultancy is the provision of expert advice based on existing knowledge; it is a great way to create impact. Unlike research, the purpose of undertaking consultancy is not to create new original knowledge, although new information based on the application of expertise to an organisation's challenge or problem may result.

The University provides a managed service for consultancy, supporting pricing, negotiating, contracting and invoicing. This takes care of the contracting arrangements for you, so that you can focus on the delivery of the work.

Contact consultancy@lancaster.ac.uk to discuss your opportunity and seek advice or clarify pricing.

Consultancy

Steve Young, Professor of Accounting discusses how he has used consultancy to apply his expertise into organisations and help to address their challenges. He talks about the benefits of undertaking consultancy work - how the money has allowed him to fund research - and the support he has received from the consultancy team.

Contract research

Contract research is commissioned and paid for by an external organisation.

Research can be commissioned that is directly related to organisational challenges or problems, benefiting from Lancaster’s state-of-the-art facilities and research power.

Research contracts are set up with confidentiality and intellectual property provisions as appropriate to the project.

Contact Mark Bowen, Business Gateway Manager m.bowen1@lancaster.ac.uk for more information.

Two hands pointing to a diagram.
Three women with PPE on a business site

Collaborative research projects

Research collaboration can be an effective way to ensure research impact, providing an opportunity for academics to engage with others affected by and interested in the proposed research. It provides real world context and application for the research.

Collaborative Research

Knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs)

KTPs are a UK programme to help businesses innovate for growth through collaborative partnerships with higher education institutions and other knowledge organisations. A graduate is employed on a project with a business that lasts between 12-36 months. The graduate receives expert guidance from an academic. The project will aim to help solve a specific challenge or problem faced by the organisation. Up to 67% of the project costs are funded by the government.

LU Engineering department set up a KTP with Atkinson Vos, a specialist in all-terrain vehicles. The case study illustrates how the KTP benefited the business, the graduate and academics. A series of case study videos, involving KTPs with Lake District Farmers, Atkinson VOS and ICT Reverse have been put together showcasing the benefits of these programmes.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Staff from Atkinson VOS and LU in front of trucks celebrating the success of a KTP partnership
Three students on a work placement

Student placements and internships

Building up relationships with external organisations can help identify student placements and internships that can benefit the employer and the students. The students can help deliver solutions as well as gain experience and skills valuable for their future careers. In some cases, student placements and internships can lead to more permanent employment.

Staff sitting round a table having a discussion

Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR) programme

This Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) programme is amongst the oldest and largest EiR networks globally, producing thousands of student interactions and hundreds of annual contact hours. A LUMS EiR is an entrepreneur experienced in building, leading, and growing organisations. They can provide unique insights on start-ups, funding models, family succession, mergers and acquisitions, and digital business models forged from real-life experience, which complement the taught theories and models of business.

Launched in 2008, the programme has grown to over 90 EiRs based on four continents, supporting not only entrepreneurship students but also faculty seeking to enliven teaching with practitioner input and require access to research materials. It also helps maintain links with alumni business owner-managers.

The network has proven longevity, diversity, and resilience, which positively impacts the Lancaster student experience, strengthens national and international business networks, and enhances the reputation of LUMS as a business school directly engaged with business. Follow EiRs on LinkedIn or email eir@lancaster.ac.uk

Entrepreneurs in Residence