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Loughborough University research into town centre consumer perceptions and behaviour has changed the awareness, attitudes and approaches of industry bodies, policymakers and retailers with regard to driving evidence-based strategies for town centre recovery. Nationally, it has informed industry bodies such as the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Town and City Management of the value of consumer perceptions for developing and evaluating town centre strategy. Locally, it formed a key component of the evidence-based advice that helped Loughborough Town Centre win a place in the government-commissioned Portas Pilot project to rejuvenate Britain's High Streets. High Street giants such as Boots have also acknowledged its importance.
Research conducted by Professor Wrigley of the University of Southampton has had a major impact on retail sector practices and government retail policy. Retail is a key sector of the economy. Gross value added (GVA) by the sector has risen by over 50% in real terms over the past 15 years. Wrigley's research established the key role of food retail in disadvantaged communities as a tool for both urban regeneration and a response to the `obesity epidemic'. Its impact has reset the parameters of policy debate on retail competition and contributed to both the evidence base and policy formulation on the future of the high street in the face of case of economic crisis and changing retail practices. These impacts have had national and global reach on UK and US government policies and have been significant in the launch of a large-scale experiment to eradicate `food deserts' (areas lacking healthy foods) in Philadelphia. The impacts have also been instrumental in convincing the retail industry of the value of academic research.
Research undertaken by retail academics at Stirling Management School has stimulated, informed and shaped public and political debate, and policy development and practice on the planning requirements for retail developments, retail regeneration and town centre futures. This work has enhanced Scottish public policy towards retail development, underpinned the development of Business Improvement Districts in Scotland, the £60m Town Centre Regeneration Fund and been integral to the National Review of Town Centres.
Research into entrepreneurship and business start-up at Manchester Metropolitan University has created know-how to support new entrepreneurs and to guide established businesses through renewal and change. With an emphasis on "knowledge in action", MMU's entrepreneurship research has provided a cornerstone for start-up, growth and leadership programmes offered by the university's Centre for Enterprise (CfE), and seen by owner-managers themselves as positively impacting directly on their businesses. Utilising research-based knowledge, CfE has worked with 150 start-ups and 1,500 small firms and social enterprises in the North West of England, fostering job creation, access to funding, and business growth.
Loughborough University research into strategic marketing and customer engagement has resulted in the development of the Toyota Retail System (TRS), a comprehensive benchmarking toolkit for the retail activities of the world's largest automotive company. TRS has provided Toyota with resilient practices and a structured approach to merchandising across its dealer network, including customer interaction and showroom layout. It has also been used to analyse and transform Toyota's displays and presentations at the world's leading motor shows. TRS is now available to Toyota personnel and affiliates in more than 150 countries and has been described by the company as "fundamental" to its continuing success.
Building on research in integrated information systems and their impact on organisational culture, Newcastle Business School (NBS), via a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP 8193), assisted Inpipe Products (IPP) to increase its operational efficiency and turnover. IPP is a world leading company in the design, manufacture, supply and rental of pipeline maintenance equipment for the global oil and gas industry. The KTP explored and developed the cultural environment for successful implementation of an integrated information system. The result for the company is improved operational efficiency, with the processing time for products from sales to engineered drawings reduced from five hours to 15 minutes, a reduction in late deliveries due to better information on product specification and a 14% reduction in rejected products. Product sales turnover has increased from £5.5 million to £6 million per year.
Research undertaken at LSE since 1995 has changed the terms of debate about land use planning and contributed to substantive changes in government policy. Planning was previously thought of as purely an environmental/design issue, but the underpinning research has demonstrated substantial economic effects on housing supply and affordability, housing market volatility, and on the productivity of economic users of space: it has shown that England's planning policies add up to 35% to housing costs, act as a tax equivalent of up to 800% on the cost of office space and since 1996 have reduced the productivity of a representative English supermarket by 32%. The work had significant influence on the two Barker Reviews and subsequent housing policy changes introduced by the Blair and Brown Labour governments. More recently it has influenced Coalition thinking and policy on planning's wider economic impacts.
The Change Management Consortium (CMC) is a collaborative network of academics and organizations seeking to improve knowledge and practice on staff engagement in the strategic implementation of change. Research done at the University of Bath has helped organizational members of the CMC internally to improve employee trust and to build commitment to change. The CMC provides member organizations (including: Aviva, Ernst & Young, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, Kraft Foods, the Ministry of Defence and T-Mobile) with opportunities to utilise highly relevant research findings in order to create cross-organizational dialogues on improving practice. The broad aim of the research is to move from strategies for change based on alignment with management requirements, to strategies for change informed by employee engagement. One of the CMC members, Her Majesty's Revenue and Custom's (HMRC) provides a specific case example of the benefits of this research, which led to acknowledged improvements in trust and employee engagement.
This case study brings together theory-informed practitioners across different art forms to develop and disseminate new artistic practices. The research referenced here demonstrates specific ways in which Practice-as-Research (PaR) has been developed and supported, and the impact such projects have had on beneficiaries nationally and internationally. Impact, beyond enriching the lives of the general public who encounter PaR events, is threefold: the PaR methodology has become pervasive in the creative sector; it informs and influences society's engagement with arts practice; research has been adopted as a methodology for researchers to reach out beyond academia and thus has had a direct impact on professional practice.