Edge Hill University

Edge Hill, The Times Higher Awards University of the Year 2014, is a leading campus university with a strong focus on graduate employability, delivering an outstanding student experience. The National Student Survey (2014) places us top in the North West for Overall Student Satisfaction; we have a 95.3% graduate employment rate (HESA Destination of Leavers Survey 2014); and are top in the North West for Teaching Excellence (The Sunday Times University Guide 2013).

Edge Hill is keen to support Lancashire’s growth businesses on two fronts: through access to skills and access to our research expertise from within key academic departments.

Access to skills:

Enhancing student employability is central to the University strategy. Industry placements and work experience are widely facilitated in all Faculties. We hold excellent links with employers in the region and are keen to expand this at every opportunity. Employers can access the skills from our student base in a number of ways:

Free graduate vacancy service offered through Edge Hill Works in our Careers Centre.
Year-long sandwich (industrial) placements taken by students from a wide range of degrees covering computing, web design and development, business management, accountancy, psychology and media.
Summer internships, facilitated across all degree programmes.
MA / MSc placements from within computing and business related programmes.

Access to our research expertise:

Through our three interdisciplinary research institutes, we are keen to engage with business at both an operational and strategic level, applying our knowledge and expertise to problems and opportunities that can deliver real economic impact. Knowledge exchange, research and development collaborations are established frequently with businesses, particularly within our Department of Computing and the Business School.

Our key areas of research and expertise which would be applicable to growth businesses are:

• Big data, through our research Centre for Data Analysis and Representation
• Web systems development and UX design, particularly through our Web Factory initiative
• Software application development
• The Internet of Things
• Cyber security
• The digital economy
• Supply chain and logistics
• Leadership

To facilitate these collaborations, the University has had a great deal of success in bidding to secure funding, particularly through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). We also operate a successful student-led consultancy model through our Enterprise Projects Team and Web Factory. In recent years we have delivered projects for businesses operating in healthcare, petro-chemical, retail, security and manufacturing.

What one top tip would you give to a business owner embarking on a growth plan?    
Make sure you have the right people within your organization and that they have the right skills. People are the most important asset to any organization and investment in their development is key to ensure your growth potential is fully met.

Why is Lancashire a great place to grow a business?
Lancashire has a fantastic mix of bustling urban centres and a strong rural economy. There is also a strong pool of talented young professionals being nurtured through the further and higher education sectors.

Why are you backing Boost?    
Our graduates are looking for high performing, growing companies to embark upon their careers with. We want to ensure the region is able to retain its talent and that they can prosper in Lancashire.