From building new revenue streams through digital transformation, to new technology helping to strengthen customer relations, businesses across the north-west of England are innovating with support from Lancaster University.

Academics from the University are working with companies from Lancashire and Cumbria’s technology and nuclear sectors, to provide expertise and inspiration to advance their operations.

Through Lancaster’s Tech and Nuclear Catalyst programmes, businesses and academic experts have been brought together to collaborate and innovate. And this month the University hosted high-growth businesses, alongside academics from multiple disciplines, to spark partnership opportunities.

The event, held at Lancaster University Management School, included BAE Systems, Sellafield, Teleplan Forsberg, Oxley, Forth Engineering, and Createc. Several of these organisations have already benefited from knowledge exchange activities facilitated by the University, ranging from student projects to Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Award (IAA) Funding, which provides financial backing to enable research expertise to be quickly and impactfully applied directly into businesses.

The focus of the event was on digital transformation, with companies identifying the barriers to their speed of adoption. They were then able to collaborate with Lancaster academics to address these challenges, with expertise including data integration, managing large-scale data, understanding the use of AI, security, and governance.

Distinguished Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Lancaster University, said: “It was wonderful to welcome these businesses to what was an excellent and valuable event.

“The Innovation Catalyst model, developed from academic research by Lancaster University Management School, allows us to bring together stakeholders and accelerate innovation through working together, and through access to academic research and student talent. It enables businesses to unlock shared insight, new partnerships, and targeted investment. It is proven to develop clear innovation priorities that align with local strategies and emerging economic opportunities, and it enables the identification of common barriers, and the co-design of solutions. 

“By combining this approach with the practical experience of businesses on the ground, Lancaster University can act as a catalyst for development and positive change.”

David Jones, Head of Engineering - Site Equipment Services - at Sellafield, praised the exposure to innovative business practices that working with Lancaster University and LUMS has enabled.

He said: “Working with Lancaster University has been a genuinely positive experience. Collaboration with academia gives us the space to explore solutions to long-term engineering challenges in a different way, bringing fresh thinking, independent insight, and the ability to test ideas without the constraints of day-to-day operations. Access to specialist facilities, tools and research capability has been particularly valuable, alongside exposure to innovative business practices that complement our technical work. Together, this has helped us accelerate problem-solving, strengthen our engineering approach, and support our wider ambition.”