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Teesside University: Market Intelligence for Business Readiness
Academic Enterprise at Teesside University is a central department promoting the University’s engagement with the business world. This involves building direct relationships with businesses, as well as supporting academic schools and service departments in being business-ready. The department comprises six teams, each with a specific role: Knowledge Transfer and Commercialisation; Graduate Business; Funding; Business Liaison; Workforce Development; and Quality and Customer Relation Management (CRM). The Challenge The department’s main challenge is to support Teesside’s ambition to become the premier business-facing University in the country. “This means being as responsive as we possibly can to the demands of employers, which covers every aspect of our interaction with the business world,” explains Laura Woods, Director of Academic Enterprise. “The major challenge is making sure we’ve got the capacity, the mindset, the structure and the processes to be really business-facing and to react as readily as businesses expect.” Business-minded The university needs to have a “good head for business”, which is why it relies on Clear Intelligence to provide its market intelligence. “The service Clear Intelligence have been providing for the past couple of years has really helped move us along that agenda. Without good market intelligence, no matter how wonderful your ideas are, you’re going to go absolutely nowhere,” says Laura. Clear Intelligence has done a great deal in helping our people with business ideas – our graduates and our academic staff really stop and think about what it is they’ve actually got and how they might deliver it to the business world. “The team at Clear Intelligence has really helped to promote the idea that market research and intelligence are critical for any aspect of business activity. For example, with new programmes, we need to know there’s going to be a demand before putting resources into developing them.” Business benefits “With Clear Intelligence’s expert guidance, our department is much more aware of the current economic and business climate out there” says Laura. “All the work they do for us helps us build a better picture of the economic circumstances in the region and the specific needs of industrial sectors.” Clear has provided invaluable services that have been a huge help for many of the University’s graduate businesses – especially the real success stories. “I’m delighted with the service and we have an excellent working relationship, which is the key to any successful service. Clear Intelligence work very hard to understand exactly what it is we require – and help us to clearly articulate what we need!” "Clear Intelligence works with a number of higher education institutions (HEIs) across the UK, providing valuable market intelligence and valid data to strengthen the performance of students, staff and businesses through our tailored solution offerings. This enables all service users to make key business decisions and reduces the risk involved in those decisions – which is especially critical in times of economic uncertainty. Paul Patterson, Director, Clear Intelligence "Our wide portfolio of services, resources and experienced specialists enables us to assist HEIs to establish long-term partnerships with businesses, industries and the public sector. Clear Intelligence’s role is to help institutions increase knowledge collaboration, ideas and innovation through effective and considered strategies. Paul Patterson, Director, Clear Intelligence |
