University of Bradford recognised for its commercial endeavours
The pivotal role played by The University of Bradford in encouraging commercial enterprise was emphasised this week with its business support programmes being rated outstanding by the government’s higher education research support body.
Research England, which is overseen by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, regularly assesses the performance of colleges and universities via its Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) initiative.
This year’s KEF results (the fourth so far published) rated Bradford highly for continuous professional development, business start-ups, intellectual property and commercialisation. The report also said the university “generated excellent research across all disciplines”.
The wide-ranging support the university gives to small and SME businesses has been achieved through a number of schemes, one of which is Project Sibling. It aims to ‘enable local manufacturing and “MedTech” businesses (SMEs) to advance their respective markets through R&D and innovation’.
The £1.9m programme has attracted funding from a number of public bodies and it has been led by business development manager Peter Ali.
He will be one of dozens of attendees at our next Bradford Business Lunch, which is also sponsored by the University of Bradford. The Midland Hotel hosts on Wednesday, November 20 (12-3pm).
Guest speaker is Simon Dew, the development director for mixed-use regeneration specialists Muse, the driving forces behind two of the biggest property developments in Bradford.
One City Park, a 56,000sqft office complex, built on the site of the city’s former police headquarters, was completed at the end of last year.
Following quickly on its heels is the transformative ‘City Village’ scheme, which is planned to deliver close to 1,000 city centre homes in the former Kirkgate and Oastler Markets areas. This has been done in collaboration with Homes England and investor powerhouses Legal and General under their strategic joint venture (ECF).
Tickets are available here and include a welcome drink plus a two-course meal.
