Institute of Innovation Research

Harold Hawkins Building

The University of Manchester
Manchester UK

Contribution of
Universities to the
Knowledge Capital
A Scenario for
Success in 2008
A report by Luke Georghiou
and Jennifer Cassingena Harper
Foreword
In the front rank of the knowledge society
By Councillor Richard Leese, Leader, Manchester City Council

Manchester has an increasingly bright future. With our excellent infrastructure, including a major international
airport, the expanding Metrolink network and a sequence of highly successful major cultural, commercial and
sporting developments incorporating world-class design, our physical environment is first class.

Looking to our economic future, we are moving rapidly towards becoming a city in the front rank of the knowledge
society – using our brains to drive regeneration. Here too we have the makings of an excellent infrastructure –
three universities with a combined income of £670 million, including the new University of Manchester which will
be an institution that is truly world-class in its breadth and quality of research.

Realising the potential of the City’s intellectual assets

is the task we have set ourselves in the Manchester:
Knowledge Capital Prospectus. This provides a powerful
vision of where we are going in the 21st Century and a
unifying focus for our drive towards urban renaissance
and competitiveness.

Articulating that vision will require continuing

concentration and effort. I am delighted to see in this
report of the Scenario Workshop a picture of the way
in which universities could contribute to the Knowledge
Capital in five years time.

It is not the only possible future, but it contains many

elements that we can and should aspire to. We need
stretch goals of this kind to make us rise to the
challenge.

I was particularly pleased to see that this high-tech future

is an inclusive one, spreading the benefits right across
the City and improving our living environment.

Some of our leading thinkers and drivers took part in this

exercise and I commend others to read about their work,
take up the debate and push forward our city’s vision.

Councillor Richard Leese

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In a knowledge-driven economy, relations
between universities and business are a
key issue.

This report describes the process and outcome of a

Success Scenario Workshop on how universities could
contribute to the development of the City-Region of
Manchester as a Knowledge Capital, with its economy
founded on science and the creative sector.

The Scenario was developed by senior stakeholders

from business, Government and universities and
presents a vision of what success would look like in
2008.
Summary
The Scenario has five dimensions:

Infrastructure

Success in 2008 Spreads the Reach of the

Knowledge Producers to All Parts of the City-Region
A network of hotspots of university-industry interfaces has spread away from the
campuses across the City-Region. Entrepreneurs are attracted by the combination of
café culture and easily located specialised spaces for innovation. The Manchester
Science Park brand defines the quality level.

Human resources

Success in 2008 Makes Manchester a Net Importer of Graduates

The exodus of graduates to the Southeast has been reversed as high quality jobs
in small entrepreneurial firms attract the best. Rising teaching quality has pervaded the
entire Manchester education system with mentoring one of its hallmarks. Highly qualified
and entrepreneurial immigrants are actively sought.

University missions

Success in 2008 Sees Each Manchester University

Recognised as World-Class in Terms of its Mission
Following the emergence of the new University of Manchester as a world-class
research-driven institution, Manchester’s other two universities achieve similar levels
of excellence within the context of their own missions. All three treat reach-out as an
integral activity but approach it in distinctive and complementary styles.

2
 Inward investment

Success in 2008 Sees Integrated Policies Attracting Massive

Investment by Multinationals and Entrepreneurs
Integrated packages combining land-use, infrastructure and academic linkages have
attracted huge investments by multinationals in the region, providing a natural market for
start-up firms. Regional resources are used to gear and attract national and European
investment.

Networking

Success in 2008 Sees Firms of All Sizes and Ages in Manchester

Sourcing Knowledge and People and Meeting Development Needs
from the Universities
Networking is seen as the key to businesses understanding how universities can help
them. Much better interfaces now allow medium-sized firms to work with academics,
while business joins city government in securing and supporting centres of excellence.

Ten key actions are proposed to reach success, along with indicators
of success. These in turn can be encapsulated in three headings:

> Focus academic resources in centres of excellence.

> Promote networks, drop moribund ones and create new networks where
they do not exist.
> Develop a cadre of people ready to lead and work in a networked Knowledge Capital.

3
The concept of the knowledge-driven economy has brought the
relations between universities and business to the centre of policy
for nations, regions and cities seeking economic regeneration and
growth through innovation.

Manchester, one of Europe’s foremost ‘City-Regions’
and the economic motor of the Northwest of England
has undergone a fifteen-year process of transformation
and regeneration away from traditional industries and
towards science-based, creative industries and
services.
These developments have been strongly influenced by
the major asset of Manchester’s four universities. With
the two most research-intensive of these about to
combine to form an institution with world-class
aspirations, the opportunity now exists to drive the
process much further over the next five years and
secure Manchester’s position as a powerhouse of the
knowledge economy.
This report describes the process and outcomes of
an exercise in which leading stakeholders in the City-
Region developed a ‘success scenario’ for business-
university linkages in the context of the City’s broader
vision of becoming a ‘Knowledge Capital’.
The success scenario is not intended to be a prediction
or even a plan of action. However, it paints a picture of
a future that can really be achieved if sufficient drive
and resources are mobilised by the stakeholders.

Introduction
Business-university links occur in four major dimensions, each with different pay-offs
and barriers to be overcome:

> In Research Collaboration the model is normally that a company either

directly sponsors research in a university or else works within the framework of
a government-sponsored collaborative programme. In either case, the pay-off for
the company is access to new knowledge in the context of an area of its
interest, and access to skills and capabilities it does not possess itself.
For universities, the benefits include additional income and contact with real-life
problems and, in some cases, company facilities. Barriers to successful
collaboration include mismatched expectations about timescales and research
directions, ownership of intellectual property, and lack of an adequate interface
to identify and manage collaborations.

> Commercialisation of knowledge developed in universities is concerned

with founding new firms or licensing knowledge to existing ones. In this area
the main incentives for universities are contributing to the community, attracting
good staff and providing the conditions for educating students in
entrepreneurship. Exploitation revenue is a bonus, but is now recognised as
being unlikely to grow beyond a few percent of the institution’s income.
However, for the broader benefit of the national and regional economy it is vital
that a high-quality supporting infrastructure exists for young and growing firms.

> For most companies the most visible and immediately valued contribution of
universities is Human Resource Development, including the supply of
trained graduates and the knowledge transfer that comes with them. The key in
this area is in maintaining the quality of the intake, especially in science and
engineering, and then in channelling graduates into productive careers.
4
> The fourth dimension of linkage is in the softer but nonetheless vital domain of
Networking and Reach-out. This includes a wide variety of personal and
institutional contacts, formal and informal, many of which represent the only channel
to the vast population of existing firms with knowledge deficits. Providing an interface
for such activities and an incentive for academics to take part, both represent
important challenges.

Business-university linkages have been the focus of a great deal of policy attention in
recent years. During 2003 two major national policy reviews have been addressing this
topic:

> The Department of Trade and Industry’s Innovation Review.

> The Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration sponsored by HM Treasury.

At the same time, two important developments in Manchester have brought a further
focus on this issue:

> The emergence of the Knowledge Capital Manchester concept as a unifying theme
1
for capitalising on the knowledge base in the City’s universities .
> Project Unity, creating a new university combining the Victoria University of
Manchester and UMIST as the new University of Manchester, with a consequent
detailed examination of structures and actions in relation to business and the
community.

In the meantime, Manchester Science Park Limited has been examining its own strategy
in relation to improving links between its tenant companies and universities. As part of
2
this appraisal a study was carried out by PREST exploring best-practice in this domain .

One recommendation of this work was to apply foresight techniques to build a shared
vision of the role of the Science Park and other organisations in developing such
linkages. A second recommendation was for the Science Park to increase its
engagement with the strategic discussions of its participating universities, particularly in
the context of Project Unity. This led to the idea that the foresight activity could be
extended to the broader topic of business-university linkages in Manchester and linked
to the articulation of the Knowledge Capital concept. With sponsorship from Manchester
Science Park, the Regional Affairs Directorate of the University of Manchester and
PREST, Institute of Innovation Research, University of Manchester, the concept of the
Success Scenario Workshop was developed.

1 http://www.manchesterknowledge.com/knowledgecapital.html
2 Improving Links Between Tenant Companies and Higher Education Institutions: Exploring Emerging Scenarios
for Manchester Science Park, Jennifer Cassingena Harper, PREST, University of Manchester, 8 April 2003

5
Process
of Workshop
The Success Scenario Workshop used an approach developed by
the Institute of Innovation Research at the University of Manchester
and previously applied in developing national strategies for ICT,
3
biotechnology and nanotechnology .

It is intended to develop a shared vision among senior
stakeholders of what success in this area would look
like in five years time and to begin the process of
developing a road map to get there.
The purpose of having such a vision of success is to
set a ‘stretch target’ for all the stakeholders. The five-
year horizon has been chosen to get beyond short-term
considerations and to allow immediate actions to
follow. It also marks the halfway point in the ten-year
vision of Knowledge Capital.
A key element of the method is that those who take
part are in a position to implement the outcomes, which
at least in part they have already bought into through
their own participation and contributions – a situation
far removed from the receipt of a consultant’s report.
During April and May 2003 a list was compiled of key
individuals who could be seen as shaping and driving
the future of business-university links in Manchester.
These came from business and commerce, national,
regional and local government, intermediary
organisations and the City’s four universities (see List
of Attendees on page 20). These were invited to the
Scenario Workshop taking place on the evening of
June 12th and all the next day.
Participants were sent a briefing document setting
out the objectives of the Workshop and several
background documents:

> The Science Park Review – the output of the review which examined the
success factors involved in a science park developing active links with its
academic hinterland.

> Manchester: Knowledge Capital – the Core Cities Prospectus, published by

Manchester City Council and the Knowledge Capital Partnership in June 2003,
a document setting out a vision for maximising the City’s and Region’s use of its
intellectual capital and other assets to drive competitiveness and growth.

> The submissions of the universities to the Treasury’s Lambert Review of

Business-University Links, which was in process during the exercise (several of
the Workshop participants had taken part in an earlier meeting held at PREST at
which Richard Lambert and his team were briefed on the state of links at
Manchester University and UMIST).

3 For copies of the outputs see http://www.ost.gov.uk/policy/futures/index.htm#top

6
 The Workshop began with a dinner which
included a basic briefing and a keynote
speech by Dr John Beacham which set six
challenges to the delegates for the future
of Manchester as an innovation capital:
1. The opportunity presented by Project Unity in terms
of critical mass and international focus;

2. Contiguous developments in the Mersey Corridor

(Liverpool and Daresbury);

3. The Knowledge Capital concept and in particular its

fusion of Science, Arts and Medicine;

4. The potential of Northwest hotspots for developing

Science and Technology through Centres of
Excellence, entrepreneurs and enterprise centres;

5. The importance of finance and attracting inward

investment;

6. The role of Government support including

regionalism and policies to promote knowledge
transfer.

These were encapsulated as Money, Knowledge and

Entrepreneurs. An open discussion followed.

On the following day an introductory plenary session set out some of the issues and recent research findings in
the field of business-university links. Following this the Workshop proceeded with three plenary and two parallel
sessions (see Structure Diagram overleaf). The first set of parallel sessions aimed to identify the main driving
forces for alternative futures (Drivers and Shapers) under the headings:

> Business needs

> Universities and their mission
> Land, infrastructure and human resources
> National, regional and city policies and strategies

The results from these provided the basis for the first elements of the Success Scenario.

A second round of parallel sessions then examined necessary developments in the four
main areas of business-university interaction that were outlined above:

Commercialisation (Land and infrastructure development, spin-outs, spin-ins, franchising, consultancy)

Human Resource Development (Supply of graduates, placements, continuing education and training)
Research collaboration (Making use of centres of excellence)
Networking/Business Development (Soft knowledge transfer, responding to enquiries)

In the final plenary session key actions and indicators of success were identified.
The results from the day’s deliberations are presented in this report.

7
 Briefing pack sent out in advance

Opening Dinner with VIP Speech

and initial discussion

First plenary – briefing

on backround and objectives

Land,
National, regional
Universities and infrastructure
Business needs and city policies
their mission and human
and strategies
resources

Initial Break-out groups

on Drivers and Shapers

Second plenary on main

elements of Success Scenario

Networking and
Human resource Research
Commercialisation business
development collaboration
development

Second Break-out groups on

building the model in key areas

Third plenary on combining

the elements in a scenario

After meeting – document prepared,

circulated for comment,
finalised and disseminated

Structure of Workshop
8
Scenario for
Success in 2008
The outputs of the Workshop are summarised in this section in the form
of a scenario for success in 2008. This brings together the key drivers and
shapers identified by the participants and highlights the different but
related dimensions of this successful outcome:

Five Dimensions of Success

3.1 3.2
Human
Infrastructure Resources

3.5
Networking

3.3 3.4
University Inward
Missions Investment

3.1 Infrastructure: Success in 2008 Spreads the Reach

of the Knowledge Producers to All Parts of the City-Region
Innovation hotspots spread across the city-region
In 2008 Manchester has shown the world that in a knowledge-driven City-Region,
proximity between knowledge producers, their collaborators and knowledge users
does not mean that infrastructural developments have to be confined to the immediate
surroundings of the universities.

A network of hotspots (university-industry interfaces/spaces) has emerged

throughout the City-Region, taking advantage of the continuing development of the
broadband/wireless infrastructure and mass transport policy. The hotspots provide an
attractive setting and one-stop shop for knowledge interactions, facilities and services.
Academic institutions have realised that they too can be present in these off-campus
locations and most hotspots include university spin-offs, research projects and student
enterprise centres.

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Café Culture attracts entrepreneurs
A new integrated approach to the use of land was first
set in motion with the sale of land resulting from Project
Unity. This highlighted the fact that the borderlines
between the cultural and social infrastructure, knowledge
infrastructure and leisure facilities could be further
reduced with the development of the Oxford Road
Corridor.

Entrepreneurs were attracted by the buzz associated

with the café culture and the excitement of exploring/
exploiting innovative spaces. Inevitably this drove up
property prices in the area and stimulated the
development of new zones as entrepreneurs sought
cheaper accommodation. These began as Knowledge
Capital satellite sites but many can now be regarded as
hubs in their own right. By promoting social cohesion,
these new zones have contributed to the safety and
security of the City-Region, thereby enhancing the image
and attractiveness of the region as a whole.

Specialised spaces Another success factor in the development of

and the Science Park brand
A particularly attractive feature is the guarantee of quick
availability, adaptability and the high quality of premises
for companies at all stages of growth, ranging from
cheap space with shared services for start-ups, through
high quality, high-tech image Science Park buildings,
and up to prestige sites for multinationals.
An on-line fast track service is available which matches
urgent property requests with available properties.
Specialised clusters also appeared, with the area
around the University of Manchester dubbed Bio-City,
while other areas focused on emergent technologies
such as nanotechnology, or else on putting high tech
into existing industries such as textiles and metal
engineering.
The growth of knowledge-based business was strongly
aided by Manchester’s reputation as a city friendly to
knowledge-based initiatives with fast-track planning
approval for developments which meet key criteria.
infrastructure was the availability of professional
property management services and branding
specialised in supporting knowledge-based companies.
Manchester Science Park recognised the trend towards
multiple and specialised sites at an early stage and
developed its brand as a franchise representing a
defined quality level recognised by potential tenants.
The logo is now so common that a recent newspaper
article joked that it was being mistaken for the latest
(and healthiest) fast food franchise!
Living and working
in the Knowledge Capital
An unusual feature of many of the hotspots is that they
are not commuter targets. Incubators have been built
that aim to provide a complete environment for the
entrepreneur including close-by living space – similar
to the studio-lofts to be found in artists’ colonies.
The wide spread of the Knowledge Capital has also
created jobs for less-qualified people in the areas
where they live. These new integrated communities
have begun to reduce social exclusion and crime and
hence create a virtuous circle where they become more
attractive to business.

10
3.2 Human resources: Success in 2008 Makes
Manchester a Net Importer of Graduates
At one time Manchester’s universities effectively operated a successful business exporting graduates to
the Southeast of England. Some of the intake would come from there in the first place, but many of them
(and even many graduates born in the Northwest) would be forced to seek employment in the South
because the quality and quantity of job opportunities to absorb them did not exist in Manchester. In five
years that situation has turned around.

The economic drivers of the knowledge-based sectors, and the quality of life and cultural buzz of the city,
have encouraged a high and growing proportion of Manchester graduates to stay in the region. Most of
the new jobs are in small entrepreneurial firms and in services for these companies. Training of graduates
in entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship has helped to enable this shift. The proportion of graduates in
Manchester’s workforce has increased substantially.

Quality rising in universities and schools

It is not only the quantity but also the quality of graduates that has
increased. Continuous efforts to improve the quality of Manchester’s
universities’ teaching have fed back into first class recruitment and greater
demand for their graduates. Graduates are also attracted to Manchester’s
universities because of ongoing efforts to improve the choice and content
of courses on offer, with the aim of making them more responsive to
Knowledge Capital employers.

Graduates are now better equipped to work in an entrepreneurial context

with a majority having had some form of contact with business or other
employers as a part of their training. Universities have also been pro-active
in carrying the Knowledge Capital concept into the City’s schools with the
benefit being the creation of a natural pipeline into the knowledge-based
economy. Manchester Education has become a shorthand for an integrated
approach that other regions seek to emulate – mentoring at all levels is one
of its hallmarks.

Graduates’ positive experience at Manchester’s universities is reflected in

their continuing investment in education and training – with an increasing
number returning to pursue doctoral studies/research. The opportunities for
lifelong learning have increased to meet growing needs and many of the
programmes are now being offered through distance learning.

Proactive approaches to
careers advice and guidance services
The excellent support facilities, already available at the Manchester
universities to help graduates to embark on the right careers, have been
further extended to promote a wider human resource strategy across the
City-Region. Employers and graduates are encouraged to develop closer
links at all levels of the education and training chain.

11
Attracting highly qualified and entrepreneurial immigrants
The first class airport and cultural diversity of the city, the excellent reputation of the schools and universities,
and the pro-graduate mentality of leading firms, encourage Manchester as the destination of choice for highly
qualified and entrepreneurial immigrants - a bureau of the City Council exists to facilitate their arrival and
integration - the universities benefit in attracting world-class academics.

The bureau moves quickly to forge links with immigrant entrepreneurs, sometimes before they arrive. The private
sector benefits from the business and research links which the immigrants can facilitate with their home country.

3.3 University missions: Success in 2008 Sees Each

Manchester University Recognised as World Class
in Terms of its Mission
Teaming up for success
The successful restructuring stimulated through Project Unity has encouraged the other
Manchester universities to re-examine their missions. Driven by the revised RAE and
Project Unity the dispersion of missions among Manchester’s universities becomes
clearer and more complementary.

The critical mass generated through Project Unity has transformed

the new university into a world-class institution. The new
Manchester
University of Manchester has consolidated its position as
the science driver of the region and is regarded as a
peer by the former Golden Triangle Institutions.
We now have a Diamond as the core of the
English system – an irony not lost on the
Northwest as the region’s response to
the failure to secure the Diamond
Oxford Cambridge
synchrotron had been part of the early
momentum towards this transformation.

This success story means that the University

attracts the attention of academics and policy-
makers from other regions in the UK and EU.
This generates more resources for the University as
other universities are keen to team up on international
London
projects.

Reaching out for success

Manchester Metropolitan University re-emphasises its vocational and professional
mission and close linkages to local industries summarised as ‘relevance with science
added’. This provides a basis for reaching out not only to high-tech sectors, but also
to apply knowledge in the regeneration of traditional sectors and in the service sector.

Salford University reiterates its philosophy that collaboration with business and the
community reaches to every corner of the University and that all staff have something
to offer the outside world in return for interesting and challenging problems to study.
All three universities treat reach-out as an integral activity in the same way as research
and teaching but as with the other two activities, they approach it in their own
distinctive and complementary styles. Complementarity provides the best basis for
working together and so joint approaches to firms become more frequent and
collaboration between universities is the norm.
12
Reaching out beyond
Science and Technology
Universities redefine their missions to incorporate the
Knowledge Capital vision and to make reach-out an
integral activity in the same way as research and
teaching reach-out is no longer seen as the preserve
of science and engineering. An equal number of new
business and public service ideas emerge from the
increasing interaction and synergy with the arts,
humanities and social sciences departments.
Some of the most exciting businesses find their
markets on the sharp edge between content and
technology – smart clothing threatens to revive the
golden days of the textile industry since the potential
of nanotechnology was harnessed with the ingenuity
of fashion designers, while massive computer power,
combined with the knowledge of social services in
social science departments, has led to a series of
start-up companies offering solutions in public service
productivity, benefiting consumers and workers alike.
Well-trained professional managers and
inspired leadership a key to success
The chance for success of these companies is
bolstered by the active engagement of the new
University’s School of Business and Management –
the largest full-service school in the UK.
One particularly successful idea is to bring in world-
class leaders to act as mentors for rising stars in the
City-Region – the master class held by Bill Clinton on
growing the new economy was an early success. At a
slightly lower level but with high commitment, part of
the route to success has been the identification and
emulation of ‘heroes’ in HEI-Business links and efforts
to learn systematically from these role models.
Centres of excellence
- a beacon for reach-out
The universities’ consistent and targeted efforts to
develop closer links with the city and regional
government, private industry and charities to share
resources and know-how to meet local needs and
opportunities, have paid off.
The pooling of ideas and resources for driving the
Knowledge Capital strategy forward, has allowed the
setting up of a number of world-class centres of
excellence won against national and European
competition. In turn these Centres of Excellence
provide a strong impetus to reach out through their
visibility and the guarantee of quality they carry
with them.
The universities’ centres of excellence and high
foreign student intake has helped to stimulate foreign
direct investment, attracting top names to the region.
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3.4 Inward investment: Success in 2008 Sees
Integrated Policies Attracting Massive Investment
from Multinationals and Entrepreneurs

Investing in innovation and innovative approaches

The decision by the Region to make inward investment in innovation its top policy
priority pays dividends as technology-based multinational companies (MNCs) are
attracted by integrated packages covering land use, planning, labour, connectivity,
facilities, academic links and image. These integrated packages could only be
successfully developed, implemented and maintained as a result of the cooperative ethic
which has grown among the operators of these services. This has allowed the packages to be refined
over time in response to MNC needs.

The pro-MNC culture has attracted huge technology investments in the region which have resulted in a
virtuous circle whereby the revenue generated has partly been re-invested in maintaining and improving
the packages. As a result, improvements in the infrastructure and massive regeneration projects have
been possible, transforming the City into a secure and attractive location for business and community.
Benefits are not confined to large firms and their employees - the newly attracted multinationals act as a
natural market and pole for science-based start-up firms.

Destination of choice for entrepreneurs

A second package is equally successful in attracting global entrepreneurs from the USA and the
Far East. Civic leadership and a common civic vision promote and deliver Manchester as a
destination of choice for investors, entrepreneurs, academics, students, tourists and more…

Science policy targeted to help win resources

Regional science and innovation policy is built upon a dual concept of helping to build centres
of excellence in the region but then relying on them to win national resources for excellence on
merit. The second wave of regional policy is then focused on exploitation of the opportunities
arising from that excellence and using them as a further attractor of investment.

Policy challenges
It is recognised that serious challenges remain for regional policy. Manchester will encounter
pressures from developments in the next five years, including the lapsing of Objective 1 funding
for Merseyside and the resource demands of Liverpool Capital of Culture. Resources will also
need to be found to build networks which do not correspond to RDA boundaries, notably the
Trans-Pennine Corridor.

Putting Manchester on the European knowledge and innovation map

Manchester has made a concerted effort to put itself in the European ring and is now punching
well above its weight in participation rates in knowledge based initiatives and the development of
the European Research and Innovation Area. Collaboration is particularly intensive with two
classes of peers – similarly driven cities such as Milan and Barcelona, and smaller countries with
populations similar to the region such as Finland. Manchester’s immigrant mix means that links
are also strong with the member states sharing a common past, such as Ireland, Malta and
Cyprus.

14
3.5 Networking: Success in 2008 Sees Firms of All Sizes
and Ages in Manchester Sourcing Knowledge and People
and Meeting Development Needs from the Universities

Better networking builds deeper links…

Through better networking, graduate recruitment, lifelong learning and word-of-mouth,
the majority of knowledge-based businesses in Manchester have reached a good
understanding of the services that universities can offer them. There is a good linkage
between changing business needs and changing skills and the role, content and delivery
of lifelong learning.

...And better interfaces mean better networking

A single conduit (but providing services for different types of
businesses, SMEs, MNCs, ICT, BIOTECH... and their needs)
exists for businesses to find services in universities and this is
complementary to a wide interface consisting of personal contacts
and networks. Universities have extended their contacts from big
business and start-ups and now work equally well with existing
medium-sized firms and growing companies. An appropriate
balance has been found between common arrangements and
individual customised services. This is seen as part of a system
which supports innovators and entrepreneurs. In return, business
is ready to play its part in securing and supporting Centres of
Excellence in the universities – given that the choice of
specialisation of these centres has emerged from a process of
business-university consultation and partnership.

City government is responsive to growing businesses…

Manchester is widely perceived as one of the UK’s easiest places
to start and grow a business. Access to city government at the top
level is easily achieved and business feels that it is in a politically
supportive environment which is quick to respond to their needs
or changing circumstances. New forms of incentives have been identified
through business-university-local government links.

...And business is responsive to city initiatives

Business has fully engaged with the Knowledge Capital concept
and has a role in its leadership. The media is also perceived
as a friendly, well-informed and proactive supporter of the knowledge
capital. It does not neglect its duty to criticise any slippage in the concept.

15
Ten Key Actions
to Reach Success
Participants in the Workshop identified ten key
actions necessary to achieve the Success Scenario:

1 Target and build-up Centres of Excellence in universities;

2 Bring business and HEI cultures closer by ensuring that business and academic
leaders network and that this is matched by networking at middle rank;

3
Universities to develop a concerted strategy for interacting with business networks and
helping to create new ones where they do not exist – also be prepared to drop those
that have outlived their purpose;

City/RDA/business/universities to consider an exercise in mapping

4 and evaluating networks as a first step to broader proactive strategy.

More systematic use made of existing networks to get access to
prime movers and shakers nationally and worldwide;

5 Universities to provide physical space for networks at their entrepreneurial interfaces

such as incubators;

6 Engage locally based business education in developing leaders and managers equipped
to work in networked Knowledge Capital;

7 Engage business in mentoring university staff in terms

of understanding the business environment;

8 Focus on a knowledge-based inward investment strategy;

9 Promote the Knowledge Capital concept to academics and business;

10 Foster a ‘can-do’ culture.

16
Indicators of Success
Indicators of success are set out to
tell us when we are achieving the Scenario:

Dynamic infrastructure

> Intelligent infrastructural development stimulates

the launch of a network of hotspots including
university spin-offs, research projects and student
enterprise centres.

> The emergence of a café culture round these

innovation hotspots attracts entrepreneurs,
stimulating the development of new zones for
affordable, close-by living space.

> Integrated land policies and professional property

management means that companies are attracted
by quick availability, adaptability and high-
quality premises.

> The dynamic infrastructure is helping to reduce

social exclusion and crime.

17
Net importers of high-quality brains

> A high and growing proportion of Manchester graduates staying in the region.
> The proportion of graduates in Manchester’s workforce increased substantially.
> Quality of students and teaching is rising in universities and schools.
> Graduates better equipped to work in an entrepreneurial context.
> Opportunities for lifelong learning have increased.
> Proactive approaches to careers advice and guidance services.
> Dynamic infrastructure and excellent reputation of universities attracting high-quality
brains from abroad.

World-class universities

> The new University developed by Project Unity as the science driver of the region
and as a peer of world-class universities.
> The other universities also offering world-class technical training and services
for local industry.
> High level of reach-out beyond science and technology to tap new opportunities
opening up through synergies with the arts, humanities and social sciences.
> World-class leaders attracted to act as mentors/role models for inspired leadership.
> The success of the early centres of excellence leads to a steady growth through
the attraction of additional national and EU funding.

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 Massive inward investment

> MNCs drawn by attractive all-inclusive packages successfully developed

through a cooperative ethic among different operators.
> Re-investment of revenue generated plugged back into the infrastructure.
> Manchester’s science and innovation policy targeted to build centres
of excellence to win national resources and attract further investments.
> Spill-over benefits to other parts of the Northwest replace Objective 1 funding
as source of investment for development.

Intelligent networking

> Strong linkage between changing business needs and skills and content
of lifelong learning.
> Closer university-business interfaces support innovators and entrepreneurs
and increase number of sustainable start-ups.
> City-business links and networks encourage new forms of cooperative governance.

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 List of Attendees

John Allen Chairman, Manchester Science Park

John Barnacle Chief Executive, Pro Manchester
John Beacham Innovation Adviser, Department of Trade and Industry
Sandra Burslem Vice-Chancellor, Manchester Metropolitan University
Kathryn Carr Knowledge Capital, Manchester City Council
Jennifer Cassingena Harper Head of Policy Unit, Malta Council for Science and Technology & Visiting Fellow PREST
Rod Coombs Pro-Vice Chancellor, UMIST
Gillian Cox Director, CONTACT Partnership
Jane Davies Chief Executive, Manchester Science Park
Peter Fell Director of Regional Affairs, University of Manchester
John Garside Vice-Chancellor and Principal, UMIST
Luke Georghiou Professor and Director, PREST, University of Manchester
Pamela Harbron Science Manager, Northwest Development Agency
John Hawkins Deputy Secretary, Association of Greater Manchester Authorities
Emma Jones Chief Executive, Redbrick
Jim Keaton Chairman, Campus Ventures
Peter Mackenzie Manchester Airports Group
Tim May Professor, SURF, University of Salford
Stan Metcalfe Professor and Director, CRIC, University of Manchester
N.Khan Moghal Director, Manchester Council for Community Relations
Rodger Pannone Chairman of Council, University of Manchester
Catherine Potter Managing Director, Campus Ventures
Jane Ratchford Head of Careers Service, University of Manchester/UMIST
Angie Robinson Chief Executive, Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Sally-Anne Sagar Head of Information for Business and Community, University of Manchester
Mike Shields Chief Executive, Northwest Development Agency
Phil Sloan Director of R&D, Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHSTrust
Maire Smith Chief Executive, Manchester Innovation Ltd

20
Professor Luke Georghiou
Director,
PREST/IOIR,
University of Manchester,
Oxford Road,
Manchester M13 9PL

UK tel: +44 (0)161 275 5921

Email: Lisa.Gledhill@man.ac.uk

Jane Davies,
Chief Executive,
Manchester Science Park Limited,
Kilburn House,
Lloyd Street North,
Manchester M15 6SE

tel: +44 (0)161 226 1000

Email: enquiries@mspl.co.uk

ISBN 0 946007 09 8 2003 Designed and produced by de Winter Marketing. Tel: 01244 320677 www.mdew.co.uk
Printed on 100% recycled paper