Move over Sir Alan Sugar: Graduate start-ups on the rise at LJMU
Sir Alan Sugar may have to watch his back as the number of active graduate start-ups continues to rise at LJMU, according to the latest annual Higher Education – Business and Community Interaction survey (HE-BCI).
The University is up one place from the last survey to 9th in the UK for the number of active graduate start-ups and 15th in the UK for the estimated current turnover of these firms.
Overall, LJMU has been ranked 81st for total HE-BCIS income return out of the 163 UK Higher Education Institutions monitored in the survey. The value of LJMU’s interaction with business and the community also totals £11.64m, an increase of over 15 per cent on the £10.08m recorded for 2013-14.
The annual HE-BCI survey examines the exchange of knowledge between universities and the wider world, and informs the strategic direction of 'knowledge exchange' activity that funding bodies and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK undertake.
The data has been collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the Finance Statistics Return (FSR), the main source of financial information on the total activities of all UK HEIs.
Alan Welby, Director of Research and Innovation Services said: “The Survey is a valuable resource to benchmark LJMU’s commercial activities against other HEIs and it’s clear from the findings this time that we continue to perform well across all areas of knowledge exchange.
“The University successfully engages with organisations in the private, public and social sectors and the value of its interaction with business and the community now stands at £11.64m, an increase of over 15 per cent since the last survey. It is significant to highlight the University maintaining its success of being in the top 10 (9th) for increasing its numbers of active Graduate Start-ups achieved - a key area of its activity for us.
“Overall income levels have risen for 2014-15 with positive results achieved in several categories including contract research, consultancy contracts, facilities and equipment and regeneration and development programmes. While there are clear areas where we can target growth and improvement, we are pleased with what we continue to achieve year on year.”
LJMU’s key benchmarks include:
- 9th in the UK for number of active Graduate Start Ups*
- 15th in the UK for the estimated current turnover of these firms
- 16th in the UK for the number of Graduate Start Ups established
- 26th in the UK for income from Capital Projects attributable to the survey year
- 36th in the UK for attendees to Free Public Lectures*
- 42nd in the UK for income from Regeneration and Development Programmes*
- 48th in the UK for income from Contract Research*
- 63rd in the UK for income from Courses for Business and the Community
- 64th in the UK for income from Facilities and Equipment Related Services*
- 71st in the UK for income from Collaborative Research
- 90th in the UK for income from Consultancy Contracts*
