Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
New city centre business hub opens at Leeds Beckett University
The Knowledge Exchange is located on the first floor of the Rose Bowl on Portland Way – the home of Leeds Business School. The hub offers a range of private meeting spaces and open workspaces for working, meeting colleagues and clients, and connecting with the university’s business support services, academics and students. For more information, please visit The Knowledge Exchange website.
Natalie Allen, Head of Business Partnerships at Leeds Beckett University, explained: “Knowledge exchange is about taking all our research, knowhow and support available at the university and bringing this to the business community - to exchange ideas, evidence, and expertise. It’s a great process for translating academic study into usable and transferable management capabilities.
“That is why we have created The Knowledge Exchange – we are committed to making the interaction with the university simple. This is a physical front door to the University for us to support businesses in our region to be sustainable, to innovate, and to grow strategically.”
Leeds Beckett University has an extensive business support portfolio : from access to academic expertise and consultancy across all university disciplines to strategic business support and innovation programmes; accessing the university’s talented graduates and students through placements, student consultancy and employment; professional development courses; and a large portfolio of degree apprenticeships.
The university’s range of funded support programmes includes:
- Accelerate - A sixth-month programme delivered as part of the regional European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)-funded. With flexible one-to-one support for SMEs, Leeds Beckett provides the core building blocks to understand how to grow and develop a business.
- Help to Grow: Management - A 14-week, 90% government-funded, programme aimed at small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders. The programme’s aim is to enable SMEs to adapt to change, stimulate innovation and improve their long-term overall business performance. More than 100 businesses in the region have completed this highly practical course with Leeds Beckett so far.
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) - Leeds Beckett works with regional businesses to drive innovation and growth through UK Government-funded programmes, such as the flagship Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme. Now ranked in the top 20 of all UK universities for KTP delivery, Leeds Beckett provides dedicated support to develop and deliver projects that attract up to 75% government funding.
- Women Empowered through Coaching and Networking (#WECAN) - The #WECAN programme offers fully funded leadership and management support and training to SMEs and their women employees. Part-funded by the European Social Fund, the project has supported over 500 women from across the Leeds City Region so far.
Natalie added: “It is not only our Leeds Business School that we can connect businesses with through The Knowledge Exchange. At Leeds Beckett University, we have world-leading academic expertise across a wealth of subject areas, including our Obesity Institute, Leeds Sustainability Institute, Centre for Dementia Research, Retail Institute, Carnegie Great Outdoors, and Leadership Centre.
“We genuinely put the business at the centre of what we do. Please come and see us in the Knowledge Exchange and we can open up the doors for you.”
Garry Cromack, Operations Director at Tomlinson Building Contractors, said: “The Knowledge Exchange is a great space and facility. Our offices are based outside Leeds and our meeting rooms are quite formal – equally coffee shops can be noisy and are not private. It is very convenient to have somewhere in Leeds city centre, with a more relaxed atmosphere, to meet clients or mentor colleagues.”
Currently, all meeting room spaces can be booked free of charge, by emailing the Knowledge Exchange team.
Spaces include boardrooms accommodating between six and 10 people, an Innovation Design Space for eight people with sofa-style seating, and smaller pods for two and four people. These include display screens, Logitech All-in-one conferencecam and Logitech Swytch Bring your own device (BYOD) connection. There is sofa space for more casual working, a kitchen and coffee machine, and access to the R.B Espresso café and Beckett Kitchen dining hall located in the Rose Bowl.
Core business hours are Monday to Friday, 10:00 – 16:00. The space also hosts events - including expert guest lectures, regional roundtable events and academic innovation showcases – as well as being bookable for students of the university when meeting clients as part of student consultancy projects, or when setting up their own businesses and entrepreneurial activities.
In this article
Natalie Allen
Natalie provides that human bridge for businesses to access the university, its research, expertise, and talent. Her work mainly focuses on supporting our regions SMEs and enabling Leeds Beckett to play its vial role in the innovation and business support ecosystem.
