Meet the Post Award team

Hi George – What is the role of the Research and Enterprise Post Award team?

Post Award offers support to a variety of research and enterprise contracts across all schools in the university – there are 13 of us altogether in the team.

Who are the members of your team and – briefly – what are their roles?

Our team is led by Jo Griffiths, Post Award Team Manager, and we all have our specialisms - as a result we cover a whole variety of different projects. In my role as SME Programme Manager, I work primarily with Kirstie Frenneaux (Post Award Manager) on the business support programmes of Accelerate and Help to Grow: Management, both aimed at helping SMEs to flourish.

How can staff get involved in the projects your team leads?

Because of the nature of the two projects I’m involved with, I work a lot with colleagues from our Business School. They work with the SMEs on our projects, offering mentoring and education via workshop delivery. It offers great variety, for example on our current Help to Grow cohort we have businesses from industries in dentistry, equestrian, architecture and one who help provide the connection to space stations.

If any academics who haven’t worked with us before would be interested in getting involved with sharing their expertise with the SMEs we work with, please get in touch!

What are your team’s main priorities over the coming year?

We deliver three to four cohorts each year on both Help to Grow and Accelerate, supporting around 100 businesses. Some of these relationships then go on to develop into our Knowledge Transfer Partnerships as we continue to support these businesses. I see our role supporting the local economy through SME development and growth as a vital cog in our goal to be an anchor institution.

Tell us a bit about you – when did you start working at Leeds Beckett, what have your previous roles been and your journey to where you are today?

I graduated from the university in 2013 and after a brief foray into the financial industry I came back to work here. I like to joke that they can’t get rid of me! I previously worked for our University Business Centres managing our Leeds site. I have been working to support SMEs in the region for over seven years now, so I’d like to think I know a bit about the business support landscape.

What is your favourite thing about your job, and about working at Leeds Beckett?

My absolute favourite is when we (the university) actively help a business to develop - so whether that’s by getting them from idea to trading or working with a large organisation to improve a very specific aspect like operations in their business that helps them to grow. And in some circumstances, we’ve helped a business along the full timeline of an LBU graduate starting a business, growing, and creating jobs all with our support. That’s the sweet spot!

Tell us something about you that we might not know?

To occupy myself during lockdowns I practiced what I preach and started my own greeting cards business. It went better than I anticipated, mainly due to a few famous faces that I drew sharing my designs to their large social media followings, which sky-rocketed my sales overnight.

I’m due to be a father for the first time in late May. So in expectation of having my hands full, I’ve decided to pause the shop for now - but it was extremely insightful to experience running a business from the other side of the fence, so to speak.

The card below is what I drew, inspired by my sister who’s a nurse and a big David Bowie fan!