Summary of the impact

Research by University of Huddersfield Business School has delivered regional and national impact in the field of entrepreneurship and enterprise. It has informed the award-winning delivery of business start-up and growth support programmes across Yorkshire and the Humber, contributing to the regional economy through additional business and job creation. It has helped to shape policy on national entrepreneurship and enterprise education for undergraduates, graduates and postgraduate research students. It has also influenced policy and guidance in the areas of enterprise and entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship support and social enterprise across the UK through researchers' involvement with national incubation, education and research-based organisations.

Summary of the impact

There has been a growing interest in the concept of social enterprise - that is organisations that are trading but with a social purpose. The research at Middlesex University has Influenced policies of state support to social enterprises demonstrated through references to research in policy documents and acknowledgement by key policy makers working in a range of UK national departments and Scottish Government. Research findings have influenced how government measures the size of the social enterprise sector and the supply of social investment funds, feeding into strategy documents of the Cabinet Office and supporting the development of Big Society Capital. Research has also stimulated the growth of individual social enterprises, with one reporting an increased turnover of 20% over 2 years.

Summary of the impact

There is a growing demand for evidence of the impact that non governmental and private businesses are having. Research findings have led to a range of practical and policy developments related to encouraging organisations to measure their impact and use it both for their own development and to access more resources. This research has resulted in social impact measurement being introduced to many organisations and an improvement in the tools used. Research insights into how social impact can best be measured have led to changes in the practices of charities such as Citizens Advice and the use of a measurement tool by over 200 smaller organisations.

Summary of the impact

This case study focuses upon enterprise and enterprise education. It describes the impact of intellectual endeavours in this area, mainly surrounding the production of a framework to foster entrepreneurial behaviour, and the emergence of an enterprise support approach that continues to support entrepreneurs.

Impact includes:

• Informing the approach taken by enterprise initiatives toward enterprise development, and challenging existing practice on enterprise education (particularly using findings around learning process, active learning and cohort-based enterprise education);
• Increased enterprise start-up rates and sustainability of start-ups through enhanced enterprise activity and initiatives secured as a result of the research profile gained (also indirectly contributing towards economic sustainability);
• Development of resources (both HE and practitioner) which took a new approach to enterprise education, based on the underpinning research;
• Policy implications locally and regionally.

Summary of the impact

The University of Northampton's (UoN) social enterprise research has created new knowledge in the field of social entrepreneurship, which has informed the definitional debate, as well as identifying the added-value that social enterprises deliver to their beneficiaries. This has provided the evidence-base for the launch of a whole-institution strategy at the University to become the leading HEI for social enterprise in the UK. The research has also led to the University supporting external social enterprises and assisting them to deliver organisational growth and change. The University's research has also led to it becoming a leading evidential contributor to policy-makers in the UK.

Summary of the impact

Research by Professor Richard Thorpe from 2003 to 2010 at Leeds University Business School (LUBS) on management learning and leadership in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has impacted three groups: (i) business education providers (universities, colleges and training organisations), who have used the research to improve the training and education they provide for SMEs; (ii) SME owner-mangers, who have been exposed to the research when attending business programmes, which has enabled them to build on their entrepreneurial behaviour and improve their strategic planning; (iii) government, regional and sector policymakers, who have used the research in policies designed to generate growth in SMEs.

Summary of the impact

The Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship and Science (IDEAS) programme, worked with 60 `technology focused' small-and-medium sized enterprises to explore how they could be supported to facilitate growth. Workshops conducted at Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus (DSIC) resulted in 55 jobs being created and 10 safeguarded. The programme provided business owners with an understanding of their networks, based on research indicating that business growth can be stimulated by optimising the variety of contacts available to them. The successful application of these concepts, at Daresbury, contributed to the generation of approx. £13.1m of funding for new regional, national and international programmes to support a further 2,900 SMEs.

Summary of the impact

The research at Newcastle led by Dr Jane Gibbon has resulted in the development of a model of social accounting which has been co-produced with different third sector organisations. Impact can be demonstrated in three areas. First, a number of organisations have implemented the model, resulting in improved practice through a better understanding of their stakeholders' perspectives. Second, it has contributed towards the sustainability of these organisations, by allowing them to demonstrate the full extent of their work. Third, practitioner debate in both the accounting and third sector communities has been informed.

Summary of the impact

The research of the Centre has had a wide range of impacts including economic, commercial and organisational impacts at the level of individual firms, impacts on public policy at the UK level and impacts on practitioners and professional services at the international level. Featured here are examples of each of these types of impact, including an example of impact being made by the whole team on the Nigerian undergraduate entrepreneurship provision and examples of impacts being made at the level of individual firms through the business incubator, on professional practices in a Scottish context through TalentScotland and on UK government policy through work with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) by individual team members.

Summary of the impact

This international research project, based on the work of a consortium of five European countries led by the University of Salford in the area of Enterprise Cultural Heritage (ECH), (the term describing an organisation's history and its creations that have the potential to uniquely innovate and differentiate their products and services), demonstrates the following impact:

• Developing and integrating the ECH training concept in Change Management, Brand Management, Heritage Management and Intellectual Property Rights training material in five languages;
• Developing online training material under Creative Commons Attribution License for free use and re-distribution available through social media such as SlideShare and Wikipedia, accessed c.30,000 times;
• Generating economic and social benefits internationally and leading to a transfer project in the Leonardo da Vinci Development of Innovation scheme entitled Quality & Innovation in Vocational Training for Enterprise Cultural Heritage management.