The North West covers some of our most dynamic cities, from Liverpool to Manchester. Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the fourth highest GVA per capita—the highest outside southern England. Despite prosperous communities and being home to many dynamic businesses the region has above average social deprivation. The challenge will be for our universities to support the social and economic recovery in some of these areas that will be hardest hit.
Over the next five years our universities in the North West will:
- Provide support to businesses and charities worth over £1.1 billion
- Give over 13,000 years’ worth of upskilling and training to businesses and charities
- Help 2,515 new businesses and charities to be formed
- Train almost 30,000 nurses, 7,000 medics, and 27,000 teachers.
One of the major cities in the region is Liverpool. Known throughout the world, Liverpool has had an illustrious past, and is building a strong future. Alongside a strong cultural scene and innovative business there still remains real poverty. Liverpool is the most deprived local authority area in the region.
Our universities sit in these areas, they are a focal point and play a significant role in their communities. For Liverpool John Moores University, supporting the local community and playing a role in recovery from the pandemic is a clear focus. Liverpool Business School, part of the University, provides business education, alongside expertise and support for local businesses.
Tim Nichol, Pro-Vice Chancellor at LJMU, said: “Like the University, Liverpool Business School has a significant role to play in enabling the Liverpool City Region to recover from the pandemic. We aim to support businesses to create greater capacity, capability and resilience so that the region can grow and prosper”.
The School works hard to support local businesses by engaging with the business community in multiple ways, including knowledge exchange, advice and consultancy. It is also focused on supporting business growth by delivering leadership and management training at a range of levels, with bespoke courses designed to meet the specific skills gaps within a business.
As part of this engagement, the School is working closely with partners to deliver local training through two projects funded by the European Social Fund. The Leadership Growth Skills project and Enterprise Hub Skills aim to develop leadership and enterprise skills in the region, with a particular focus on supporting the training needs of groups that are under-represented in leadership roles and enterprise activity in the region.
As good leadership is a vital part of this recovery, the enhanced knowledge and skills delivered by the School aims to have a real impact on business in the region, as managers can become better at building capacity, enhancing productivity and scaling up/growing their business. In the past three years, the School has delivered leadership and management programmes to almost 100 organisations in the region and nearly 500 employees from the city region have either completed, or are completing, leadership and management programmes.
Alongside this, the School supports employers through student placements and consultancy projects delivered by students through its business clinic. This not only provides businesses with support, but means that graduates are entering the workforce with valuable practical business skills alongside their theoretical knowledge, an approach the School have termed ‘clinical business practice’. Undergraduate and postgraduate students work in consultancy project teams to tackle real problems brought to them by organisations. The business clinic has delivered free consultancy support to over 100 businesses through such projects, with students generating innovative and fresh approaches and solutions to real business challenges.
These projects are guided by experienced consultants, who support and mentor the students and ensure projects are delivered to a high standard. Projects have included producing marketing plans, CSR strategies, market research and product analysis. Organisations can be anything from SMEs to national businesses and include Alpha Taxis, Liverpool Football Club Foundation, Northern Power Women and Planet Warrior.
Case Study: Wigan Warriors
A group of BA Sport Business students completed a 10 week ‘ticket relaunch’ project for Wigan Warriors. The students conducted in depth market research to create price matrix documents to compare competitors’ equivalent prices, the range of packages on offer and how these were promoted across various social media platforms. The market research will be used by Wigan to inform their ticketing strategy moving forward.
Adrian Ward, Marketing Manager at Wigan Warriors say about the project: “The diligent research from the students, which was well presented and hugely relevant to our plans, allows us to access a breadth of information that would have taken our department months to compile alongside our existing projects”
For further information about Liverpool Business School and the work it is doing in the region visit ljmu.ac.uk/lbs or email business@ljmu.ac.uk.