Fire protection firm’s international expansion plans heat up with university tie-up

Academic experts at Leeds Beckett University have joined forces with a North Yorkshire-based business to help boost its management capabilities and develop strategies to break into new international markets.

The team of academics, all based within Leeds Business School, will work with York-based Ardent on the Management Knowledge Transfer Partnership (mKTP) project, part-funded by the Government through Innovate UK.

Ardent is a supplier of fire protection and electronic safety systems for people and businesses using plant, public transport, and specialised vehicles – in the UK and overseas.

The project will run for 30 months and focus on building long-term marketing and internationalisation strategies for Ardent as it continues to grow.

The mKTP’s goal is to embed permanent transformations in leadership, management, and culture across the business.

Dr Catherine Ashworth, senior lecturer in strategic marketing at Leeds Beckett, is leading the partnership.

She said: “Through our new partnership we aim to create strategic growth within Ardent. We will do this by embedding new management capabilities across the value chain – and a new leadership model across the organisation.

“We will also focus on improving Ardent’s capabilities in gathering expert market intelligence, strategically assessing overseas market opportunities, developing internal and stakeholder communications, and by delivering strategic decision-making.”

Neil Crowther, managing director of Ardent, said: “Since our founding in 1993, we have always aimed to continually improve our offering and service. We always prioritise challenging ourselves and encourage collaboration across the company. This partnership is a natural fit for us and we look forward to it being a productive relationship that will help us provide even better service to all our customers around the world.”

 

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