Since November 2017, we have been working in partnership with Lancaster University. The University will work with local businesses in order to help them focus on a particular issue or area that needs attention, the students will deliver a new resource, insight and recommendations for practical action. This can be in anything from strategy and business planning to marketing analytics, opportunities in new technologies and project management.
At our initial meeting in November 2017, the students showed great enthusiasm, initiative and motivation for this project. The initial brief we provided included :
• Whether there was a market for the R&D project and if so the size of the market.
• Maturity of the market and any entry barriers to the market (the product has the capability of being multi-language).
• Competition in the market.
• How to position and sell the product in the market.
At the end of April 2018, the students gave their final presentation of recommendations and findings which will be extremely valuable to us. From the recommendations, we will continue to exploring the European market for the product and possible partnerships through contacts made in the research stages of the project.
At the beginning of May we began a second business partnership with Lancaster University, this time working with some MSC Marketing students. The aim of the project is to complete a sector analysis, route to market and competitor analysis for our Stock Control System. We are looking forward to read what recommendations this project may bring us.