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Welcome to our new Commercial Connections newsletter, your monthly insight to all things University of Chester!

The University is proud to work with many businesses and organisations as part of our Work Based Learning programme, through our Careers and Employability service, our Volunteering and Mentoring team,  the High Sheriff Awards, our commercial occupants and more! This monthly newsletter will bring you the latest commercial updates and events from the University and our partners.

We are encouraging everyone to love business and sustainability this Valentine’s week by participating in our Festival of Professional Futures Events that the whole community can be involved with, especially local businesses, students, staff, and alumni. 

All held at the University of Chester Business School and organised by the Centre for Professional and Economic Development and the Business Growth Programme, most events will be held in person at Queen's Park Campus and will bring together businesses and students to celebrate the business support provided by the University.  

Kicked off in style by Chester FC, showing their skills and drills, the festival will have something for everyone to come away with. The festival’s diverse programme of events will have something for everyone including ‘meet the expert’ sessions, business masterclasses and workshops, networking events and student engagement opportunities for business. 

To see the full schedule of events and book your place please click below.

Commonwealth Day Conference - 13 March

Celebrate the diverse network of values, characteristics, and interests that the Commonwealth of Nations has to offer and to learn about the exporting benefits for business within Cheshire and beyond. 

With speakers ranging from large, multinational corporations to entrepreneurs that have learnt the value of international trade, you are sure to enhance your own export journey into the Commonwealth. There will also be opportunities to network, hear from the University about opportunities to work with our graduates and academics and ask questions to our panel of export champions.  

See the full agenda and book your free space now via the button below.

The 18th University of Chester Diversity Festival takes place from 27 February until 10 March. The theme, ‘Action for Change’, focuses on the actions we can all take to make meaningful changes to inclusion and belonging. Participants will be inspired by our diverse range of speakers, all of whom have really taken action for change – however big or small. There are a great range of excellent speakers and events. With a mix of face to face and hybrid events focussing on many aspects of equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging and open to the University staff, students and external visitors, there really is something for everyone!

There are many events within the schedule that are particularly of interest to employers such as the 'Your Authentic Self' session where attendees can hear from a diverse range of employers who will showcase their very best Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging initiatives to demonstrate why their companies are the best places to work.

DIT Export Academy 

The Department for International Trade’s UK Export Academy is a free training programme for UK businesses looking to grow their international sales. This February and March the DIT is delighted to announce eight exciting, online modules focused on showcasing your website to the world to reach customers outside the UK!  
 
Starting on 8th Feb from 10:00 – 11:00 with “Check Your Website’s Health” the modules go on to look at planning, creating, increasing website traffic and conversion rate plus analytics. This series will be a useful learning experience or refresher for those using a website as part of their marketing mix. 
  
The next set of 10 online Foundation Course modules also starts on the 6th February, 14:00 – 15:00 with “Benefits and Barriers of Export”. 
  
Register your business via DIT’s Export Academy website then select and submit the module(s) you are interested in. 

Looking to develop yourself personally and professionally? Why not consider our Work Based and Integrative Studies programme (WBIS). Our WBIS course is ideal for part-time learners who are happy to learn in and through their workplace, with support from tutors who can help them to develop their professional practice in a way that enables them to receive academic reward for this. The framework exists at undergraduate Level 4 up to – and including – Master’s Level (Level 7). It allows participants to negotiate their own pathway of learning related to their area of working practice, and to choose a relevant award title. For instance, a postgraduate student who works as a ward manager in a hospital may well negotiate a pathway towards a MSc Health Management (WBIS) award, whereas a medical secretary working in the same hospital may choose to negotiate a pathway towards a BA Hons Administration (WBIS) degree.  

WBIS is about looking at your personal and professional development to date, about encouraging you to think about the sort of person you are today, and about helping you decide where you would like to go next in life generally, or with your career more specifically.  

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)

The Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) programme aims to help businesses improve competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base. Successful KTPs are funded by UK Research and Innovation through Innovate UK, part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.  

Such projects may include: 

• Product improvement 
• New product development 
• Increasing the efficiency of manufacturing and logistics processes 
• Marketing strategy development 
• Applying technology to processes 
• Application of science to business 
• Health and education performance 

Projects are part funded and an SME can get up to 67% Grant, Large Company 50% grant and a charity/third sector 75% grant.

The University of Chester will be hosting FREE information events on the following dates to enable business, charities and social enterprise partners find out more about the benefits of KTPs:
•    8th March, 12.00 – 14.00 at UoC Time Square, Warrington
•    9th March, 12.00 -1400 at The Riverside Innovation Centre, Chester

Find Out More Here

Apprenticeships are a growing area of popularity for employers who are looking for an opportunity to upskill their workforce. At the University of Chester, we offer a range of higher and degree apprenticeships which are designed with the employer in mind to ensure that your staff are gaining the required knowledge, skills and behaviours to excel within your workforce.  

 5 ways that this can benefit you as an employer are: 

1. It addresses any skills gaps within your workforce 
2. Provides your staff with career opportunities that may previously have been unavailable 
3. You will have the latest industry knowledge  
4. It will boost productivity if your staff are confident within their role 
5. You can plan for the future by retaining your employees’ skills and knowledge.  

If you would like some further information on how apprenticeships can benefit you and your staff, register for The Value of Apprenticeships online event on the 16th February at 1pm.   

If you have any questions or would like to enquire about our available programmes, please email apprenticeships@chester.ac.uk 

During February and March, the University of Chester will be hosting our inaugural ‘Get a Graduate Job Month’, with the aim of connecting recruiting employers who have permanent, graduate-level positions to fill with students and graduates from the University of Chester.  

Through this free service, you’ll have direct access to our talent pool and the dedicated help and support of the Careers and Employability team who will advertise your vacancies, shortlist on your behalf (if required) and arrange interviews and/or assessments on-site or remotely. 

We will work with you every step of the way; from creating a full Job Description and Person Specification, collating applications, and conducting shortlisting, to assisting you on the interview day as you develop brand awareness on campus through a low-risk recruitment.  

The Employer Engagement Team will need to have received your initial job description and person specification by Friday 10 February to begin the process. 

If you have a role that would suit a final-year student, as they transition into the workplace, or a recent graduate we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Employer Engagement Team by email - employers@chester.ac.uk or call us at your earliest opportunity on 01244 513066 to find out more.

PMW Technology is a process development company, working with the University of Chester. Carbon capture is a way of reducing carbon emissions, which will be vital to help meet net zero targets and tackle global warming. 

The demonstration on 18th January at Thornton Science Park showed the pilot being cooled to below -100°C to enable carbon dioxide removal from the exhaust of a test diesel engine. The visitors were hosted by Professor Steve Wilkinson and Paul Willson, MD of PMW Technology. Supporting the research Professor Julieanna Powell-Turner said: “It is great to see how this project has evolved over the last year in collaboration with the Department of Physical, Mathematics and Engineering Sciences (PMES) at the University of Chester. PMES is delighted to be working with PMW Technology on this ground-breaking process that will push the decarbonisation agenda in the race for Net Zero”. 

Paul Willson said: “We are delighted to have reached this key step in the development of our technology and greatly appreciate the support from our academic colleagues and from the University over the past five years. We are looking forward to building new industry partnerships to take us to our prototype commercial system.” 

The University of Chester is proud to be part of a new pilot project called Workspace Project Chester. The pilot is funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and is working with seven Chester workspace providers.

The project is aimed at start up, micro and small/medium businesses providing them with ad hoc coworking space and wrap around business support to help their development and growth. Each business accessing the space will go through a diagnostic which will look at their growth plans. This information will help identify what support the business may need to progress and look at opportunities to access appropriate provision.

We are excited to able to offer 6 free spaces as part of this trial whereby you can drop into our newly formed Business Exchange coworking space at our Queen's Park site. 

If you are interested in being considered as part of this pilot or would like some more information, please contact the Commercial Operations Team by emailing commercialoperations@chester.ac.uk

The Workspace project is part of the Council’s commitment to supporting businesses as part of the vision for an Inclusive Economy. To find out more about the Inclusive Economy and Support for business start-ups visit the Let’s Talk Business website.
 

On 7 December, University Centre Shrewsbury held an event that aimed to address some of the barriers to growth facing SMEs in Shropshire. Businesses were able to network and find out about the support on offer from the University and students were able to present their academic theories on contemporary issues within the business community. They faced some challenging questions from the audience but responded very professionally. 

Vince Dovey from Shropshire ITC Ltd said that it was “A wonderful opportunity to see how strong the ties are between the University and local businesses. A highlight for me was the two presentations given by your business students.” 

A huge congratulations to all involved!

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