Improving productivity through university-business collaboration

European investment over a 15-year period is helping academics at the University of Liverpool to create and safeguard regional jobs.

Helping manufacturing businesses adapt to a rapidly changing environment the University of Liverpool’s Management School has underpinned economic success in the North West of England thanks to consistent levels of European funding.

With £10 million in European Regional Development Funding over 15 years the Agility and Supply Chain Management Centre has worked with more than 130 businesses helping to increase productivity, foster innovation and create jobs.  

It has brought companies together with new customers, suppliers, other companies and the public sector to form collaborative alliances and enhance their innovation and grow their business. Academics have also worked with their industry colleagues to help them use their supply chains to support new product development.

More than 75 new jobs have been created as a result of this work and almost 250 at-risk jobs have been safeguarded. The businesses that have been involved now have a combined annual revenue of £1.75 billion, making a key contribution to the region.

The centre’s director, Dr Hossein Sharifi, described EU support as having “played a critical role in delivering university knowledge and expertise to industry, making an economic as well as social impact on the prosperity of the region and on people’s lives.” Many of the firms supported have also now expanded into selling in other EU countries.

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