[Ajay Baines] So, the team here at Lancaster University Management School, we work to source and scope projects across various different degree programmes. We work closely with businesses to really understand some of the issues that they're facing, opportunities for change, looking at opportunities that students can come on board and tackle.

[Shelley Morgan] In our small team, we are two company Projects Managers. We work across the UK, nationally, and we're now expanding globally as well.

[Richard Smith] We decided to collaborate with Lancaster University and the Management School on this project because Lancaster University is one of the top universities in the country so it's a no-brainer really.

[Ben Anderson] Pre-law is a legal service provider based in Lancaster. We offer legal services in employment law, family law and services for small businesses and medium-sized businesses.

[Kerry Tenbey] Lancaster Grand Theatre is the third-oldest theatre outside of London in continuous operation. The project was all about strategy. It was about looking at our USPs and where we fit within the live entertainment market of Lancaster. The students were really motivated, and the insights that they gave us were really valuable.

[Richard Smith] The main purpose of this project was to look into the luxury SUV market. Porsche have two main models, the Cayenne and the Macan, so it was to research our AOI, which is Cumbria and North Lancashire and look at demographics, buying habits.

[Mary Hargreaves] They get a totally different perspective from the students. I think that's the most important thing, and they get often different cultural perspective, and they get a very good robust piece of research which is done.</b>

[Lee Francis] I think every project we've ever done has always shed light on areas of research that are attractive avenues for the company to pursue.

[Ben Anderson] So the student project gave us lots to think about, it gave us some different pathways that we hadn't already considered and also expanded on some ideas that we gave the project and gave us more detailed, imaginative approaches how we could go about growing the business and scaling it.

[Mary Hargreaves] And the students always talk about when you talk to them later in life, they can always remember that project
that they worked on.

[Mahnaz Abbariki] A lot of our students, in their CVs, when they are applying for jobs actually incorporating the experience that they had with these clients, so it's very important for them and helps them with their employability a lot.

[Shivam Tiwari] You get this chance to actually meet, greet and get in the client and the project management sort of feel. I do recommend.

[Han Yu]Take this opportunity and do the best you can because it's not often you have this chance to work with real big companies.

[Richard Smith] Would we be open to doing another student project? I think we would. It's an easy process; it's a smooth process.

[Ben Anderson] Any opportunity that comes up or arises from the University, we always explore it because for the amount of time that we have to put in as an organisation for what you get back, it's absolutely so valuable for us.

[Shelley Morgan] We're really open to conversations with any kind of client who is interested in accessing our Management School students. We really welcome a conversation with you, and we hope that this has given you a really interesting snapshot and flavour of what sorts of things are available through our projects.

[Mark Dawson] I am Dr Mark Dawson. I'm a Senior Teaching Fellow here at Lancaster, and I am the Programme Director for the full-time MBA. MBA students, they bring something to the table that companies really appreciate, which is, i.e. diversity of thought They bring the opportunity to demonstrate the learning that they've had on the programme and apply that.

[Simon Powell] I'm Simon Powell, and the Assembly Operations Manager at Leyland Trucks. So at Leyland Trucks, we are the UK arm of Paccar, which is a global truck manufacturer. We produce DAF vehicles at Leyland, a centre of excellence for medium duty,and for DAF, producing up to 12,000 to 13,000 trucks a year.

[Mark Dawson] Students find it really beneficial to work on the company project because they get access to a range of people who work at the company, and they can make or expand their network. So it's not just about delivering something related to a brief; it's also about making contacts and growing that network.

[Shivam Tiwari] My name is Shivam Tiwari. I come from India, and I have eight years of experience catering product management to different industries, especially to consumer electronic industry. We got the opportunity to work with the Director of Leyland, there, Simon. It gave me a lot of learning in terms of actually going to the client, meeting different people, experience of you getting there and talking to people who are working for like 20 to 25 years in the same industry. So yeah, it was a good project in terms of network building, and also getting a different exposure of industry I was not aware about.

[Simon Powell] So the main focus of the project was to really understand where we were currently in and around key job profiles; are we pitching the expectations at the correct level? But are we also ensuring, then that we are training and upskilling people to be able to achieve those core responsibilities? One of the main things that made me look immediately at The Management School was the ability to do a very quick sprint project like this with a Master's [cohort]. It wasn't very arduous going into a scope. It was quite a high-level scope. And just having the ability to turn something around quite quickly was key as well.

[Mark Dawson] I would advise students to be open to the process. I'd really like them to be curious and creative. I want them to think about the team dynamic, but to really hone that skill, but mainly to be perceptive, to listen and to really apply themselves to this particular opportunity.

[Simon Powell] I think the way that the programme itself is set up around, they have to form a consultancy. It becomes more professional. It's been really beneficial both from a what have we learnt, but also understanding what we can do in the future.

[Shivam Tiwari] Definitely I would recommend - you get this chance to actually meet, greet and get in the client and the project management
sort of feel. Out of all the modules or the challenges that we had or the simulations that we had, Consulting Challenge is a must go. I do recommend.

[Simon Powell] But I would really say to any other businesses thinking about doing this, definitely, because I think from my perspective, it's just giving us a different outlook.