LJMU's thriving business and community engagement

17 June 2011

The findings of the recently released HE-BCI (Higher Education Business and Community Interaction survey) Survey 2009/10 have confirmed that LJMU’s mutually beneficial relationship with business and the community is as strong as ever.

The University’s reputation for successful engagement with organisations in the private, public and social sectors is reflected in its ranking of 46th out of 165 HEIs in the UK for this activity, with the value of LJMU’s interaction with business and the community totalling £16.6m.

The survey, managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is an essential source of information on the exchange of knowledge that takes place between higher education institutions (HEIs) and the world of business and the community. Data reported in the survey provides invaluable intelligence for knowledge exchange practitioners and policy-makers alike, providing an in-depth commentary on the extent of and trends in knowledge exchange activity in the UK. 

HE-BCI covers a range of activities, from the commercialisation of new knowledge, through to the delivery of professional training, consultancy and related services. 'Business' in this context refers to public, private and social sector partners of all sizes with which HEIs have a broad spectrum of interactions. 'Community' is taken to mean society as a whole outside the HEI, including all social, civic and cultural organisations and individuals.

LJMU’s key benchmarks include:

• 20th in the UK in terms of number of ‘disclosures’, that is, the number of staff/student ideas registered before being investigated with a view to establishing their potential for commercialisation 
• 21st in the UK for number of graduate business start-ups established
• 36th in the UK for income from contract research (the highest ranking of post 1992 universities)
• 37th in the UK for number of staff business start-ups established
• 39th in the UK for value of bespoke Continued Professional Development (CPD) for business and community
• 46th in the UK for income from regeneration and development programs
• 61st in the UK for the value of consultancy contracts
• 62nd in the UK for income from collaborative research 

LJMU’s Jane Townend, Head of Business Development in the Commercial and International Directorate, said: "The HE-BCI survey is a valuable mechanism to benchmark LJMU’s commercial activities against other HEIs and it is clear that LJMU continues to perform strongly across all areas of knowledge exchange. 

"We are firmly focused on maximising our return on investment, be that return income, reputation enhancement or benefit to our student community. On all these measures LJMU is delivering, while providing a quality, value for money service to businesses and the community. We look forward to building on these positive results next year."

Emma Hunter, Head of Student Enterprise in the Commercial and International Directorate, said: "We are delighted with our 21st place ranking for number of established graduate start-ups and also with our position in terms of number of active firms (24th), current employment of active firms (24th) and current turnover of firms (an amazing 15th place). These results serve to confirm what we see every day in our work with students: that LJMU graduates are some of the most entrepreneurial in the UK."