Innovation take-off on Teesside

Jun 17 2008 The Journal

WHEN The Economist magazine paid a visit to the North East in May to check out the region, they sent their home affairs reporter to Middlesbrough to see whether a town-and-gown partnership with One NorthEast was really helping to stem the flow of graduate talent from the region.

And they left pretty impressed after touring Teesside’s new campus showpiece – the £12m Phoenix Building, home to the Institute of Digital Innovation and the university’s contribution to the DigitalCity project.

They were even more enthusiastic after meeting some of the graduate entrepreneurs.

The resulting article, ‘Regeneration by univesity – Send in the gowns’ reported glowingly that Middlesbrough’s model of an initiative between Teesside University, the town council and the regional development agency was encouraging graduates to stay around and develop their own inventions and businesses in generous ‘incubation’ facilities on the Teesside campus.

One of the spin-out companies interviewed, Halch, reported employing six full-time staff and as many freelancers and is currently working on a game for the Nintendo Wii console. Two years ago, Marc Williamson, the co-founder, was looking forward to graduating from his computing degree at Teesside University.

So a small but growing cluster of mainly digital media companies is starting to emerge on Teesside, with The Economist recording that ‘of the 47 sustainable firms that have emerged since 2003, only two have left the region’.

Soon what is known as the DigitalCity initiative will have more to shout about, thanks to new investment by One NorthEast and Middlesbrough Council in the Bo-Ho creative industries quarter, near Middlesbrough’s Victorian railway station.

But it is not just new and thrusting young digital businesses that will be needed to keep the North East economy alive and well in years to come.

There’s still a major skills gap in the existing workforce in the region that is seen by many as holding back the region’s potential competitiveness.

With that very much in mind, the University of Teesside has just successfully bid for a Strategic Development Fund grant, worth an initial £5.2m from Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The package could grow to £13m to support the creation of 3,000 learning opportunities for existing employees to study on co-funded courses offered by the university.

The grant is the second largest so far awarded by HEFCE to encourage greater university-employer engagement and will be used to develop the university as a major business-facing institution.

Teesside already has a good track record in workforce development with organisations like the health service and the police – and its educational leadership programme has delivered nearly 200 professional development sessions to more than 700 existing and future school leaders in the last year.

Now it sees a real opportunity to use this expertise to work much more closely with private sector business and build strong partnerships with employers to provide high-level courses tailored to organisational needs, both within the North East and nationwide.

The vice-chancellor, Prof Graham Henderson, is certainly very enthusiastic and says: “We’ll be working with employers on a wide range of programmes, particularly in leadership and management, and developing new courses with process industry partners to keep workforce skills and qualifications at the cutting edge.”

But it is not just educational development and teaching on offer from Teesside.

For the university is also committed to research and knowledge transfer, particularly where this benefits the region.

Its Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) with Wellstream International on the Tyne is a good example.

This has helped the company introduce new ways of managing technology and given academics and graduates first-hand experience of applying their knowledge in the work place.

NEW HELMSMAN AT BUSINESS SCHOOL

ALASTAIR Thomson came to the helm of the University of Teesside’s Business School with a fresh perspective, having set up his own company and worked at managing director level of a FTSE100 business.

On becoming the business school’s dean in November, he said: “I see the university as a hidden jewel, I was aware of its presence before I joined, after all it takes up a big chunk of the town.

But once inside I discovered the many sources of expertise and insight that I never knew existed.

Now I want to tell other people about them.”

He is particularly keen to promote the Enterprise MBA which enables directors of small businesses to enhance their entrepreneurial skills for continued success and growth.

Teesside Business School has also developed a foundation degree in leadership and management with the North East Chamber of Commerce.

The flexible two-year course has been designed to fit into the busy working lives of middle managers employed by the NECC and other companies in the region.

TEESSIDE NOTCHES UP A TOP SCORE FOR MECH ENG

THE University of Teesside is the top place to study mechanical engineering in the country, according to The Guardian university league table published on May 1.

Dr Paul Shelton, from the university’s School of Science and Technology, said: “Our course meets the specific needs of the local engineering supply chain companies, many of whom support the process industries in the Tees Valley and the wider North East region.

But we also attract a number of sponsored overseas students from areas of the world such as the Gulf States.”

Stan Higgins, chief executive of NEPIC, was among those welcoming the accolade, saying: “We work closely with Teesside University, and from our perspective it is easy to see the commitment and expertise in the staff and students.”

Paul Booth, president of SABIC UK, said: “The University of Teesside are staunch and enthusiastic supporters of the 'Skills Agenda'.”