Welcome to the Knowledge Exchange at Leeds Beckett

What is knowledge exchange? And how could working with a university open the doors to business growth and innovation?

Natalie Allen, Head of Business Partnerships at Leeds Beckett University, explains how Leeds Beckett is growing the region’s business community through knowledge exchange.

We know that for businesses, just the thought of engaging with a university can be baffling. For starters, where is the front door?

A new term being used a lot now is knowledge exchange. But what is knowledge exchange? And what is in it for you as a business?

Knowledge exchange is about taking all the wonderful research, know-how and support a university houses and bringing this to wider groups such as, but not exclusively, the business community – to exchange ideas, evidence, and expertise. It’s a great process for translating academic study into usable and transferable management capabilities. For Leeds Beckett this goes a little further – It is genuinely a two-way process, an opportunity for the external world to feed back into the university.

The Knowledge Exchange hub

Leeds Beckett is committed to making the interaction with the university easy – and we are excited to welcome you into The Knowledge Exchange – a new, physical, business-centred space, located just inside our iconic city centre Rose Bowl building.

Leeds Beckett University is committed to the inclusive growth agenda, ensuring our research, innovation and knowledge has a far reaching and deep impact to make a positive difference to the people, organisations, and diverse communities of our region. The sharing and exchange of knowledge is at the centre of what we do.

Join our Business Community

We are proud members of the Leeds Anchor’s Network and, as Chair, our Vice Chancellor champions its strategic importance.

The new Knowledge Exchange hub will provide a gateway into our Anchor Institution – a human bridge to access our knowledge, expertise, and talent. We aim to create a business community and support businesses in our region to be sustainable, to grow strategically, and to survive.

We really want to embed ‘living lab thinking’ at the heart of our activity. We will create new opportunities and partnerships to truly embed our research into regional policy, practice, and industry.

Access our business support

Leeds Beckett University has an extensive business support portfolio. Our new hub will make it easy for businesses to engage with us: from access to academic expertise and consultancy to strategic business support and innovation programmes; accessing our talented graduates and students through placements, student consultancy and employment; professional development courses; and a large portfolio of degree apprenticeships.

Our support programmes include:

Accelerate

As part of the regional European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)-funded AdVenture programme, we deliver the popular, six-month Accelerate programme. With flexible one-to-one support for SMEs, we provide the core building blocks to understand how to grow and develop a business.

Help to Grow: Management

We run the 14-week, 90% government-funded, Help to Grow: Management programme. More than 100 businesses from our region have completed this highly practical course with us so far. Aimed at SME business leaders, its aim is to enable SMEs to adapt to change, stimulate innovation and improve their long-term overall business performance.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)

Leeds Beckett works with regional businesses to drive innovation and growth through UK Government-funded programmes, such as the flagship Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme. Now ranked in the top 20 of all UK universities for KTP delivery, we provide dedicated support to develop and deliver projects that attract up to 75% government funding.

4th October 2022.
Women entrepreneurs: The northern perspective.
Pictured the woman entrepreneurs roundtable hosted by Nancy Fielder
Picture Gerard Binks

Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking (#WECAN)

Our #WECAN programme offers fully funded leadership and management support and training to SMEs and their women employees. Part-funded by the European Social Fund, the project has supported over 500 women from across the Leeds City Region so far.

It is not only our Leeds Business School that we can connect you with through the Knowledge Exchange. At Leeds Beckett University, we have world-leading academic expertise across a wealth of subject areas, including: our Obesity Institute, Leeds Sustainability Institute, Centre for Dementia Research, Retail Institute, Carnegie Great Outdoors, and Leadership Centre.

We genuinely put the business at the centre of what we do. Please come and see us in the Knowledge Exchange and we can open up doors for you: To all of our academic and student expertise within the university across all our subject areas – from coaching to events and hospitality, music and arts, and education – as well as our connections to organisations and expertise available throughout the region.

It is our ability to develop meaningful relationships with business – turning simple transactions into partnerships – which can bring about these opportunities, supporting impactful economic prosperity and resilience for our region’s businesses, our students, and graduates.

For more information, visit www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/business-services